Inflow drops to $9.19b in 8 months
The inflow of remittance decreased to $9.19 billion in eight months of the current financial year 2013-2014 against $9.89 billion in the same period of the FY 2012-13 due to a downward trend in manpower export. According to the Bangladesh Bank data released on Monday, remittance inflow dropped by 7.02 per cent in July-February of the FY14 compared with that of a rise of 17.44 per cent in the same period of the FY13. The expatriate Bangladeshis had sent $8.42 billion in remittance in the first eight months of the FY12.
Experts and BB officials said that the declining trend in the remittance inflow would also put an adverse impact on the gross domestic product as the volume of the private consumption in the country was equivalent to 75 per cent of the annual GDP.
The latest BB monetary policy statement for January-June of 2014 also said that the downward trend in manpower export was a pivotal cause of declining inward remittance in recent months.
The MPS said that the country’s manpower export had dropped by 36 per cent in the FY13 from that in the FY12.
Against the backdrop, the central bank in January advised the government department concerned to take proper steps to increase manpower exports.
But, inflow in February showed no signs of improvement.
According to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training data, 6,07,798 workers were employed overseas in 2012 but only 3,99,333 workers went abroad till December 22, 2013.
Lack of comprehensive policies and skilled workers, and political instability coupled with shrinking manpower export caused the drop in the remittance inflow to Bangladesh, the BB officials said.
Former caretaker government adviser Mirza Azizul Islam told New Age on Monday that recruitment of Bangladeshi workers had declined significantly in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia over the years.
Under the circumstances, the downward trend in manpower export hit the inward remittance in recent months.
The relatives of expatriate Bangladeshi workers will face a tough situation due to the decreased inward remittance, he said.
‘Seventy-five per cent of the country’s GDP is private consumption. So, the lower inward remittance has also squeezed the private consumption and it (drop in private consumption) will hit the GDP growth,’ Azizul said.
The BB data, however, showed that the inflow of remittance slightly increased in February year-on-year, rising by 0.07 per cent to $1.164 billion from $1.163 billion in the same month of the last year.
The private commercial banks received $769.33 million in inward remittance in February while the state-run commercial banks received
$367.56 million, foreign commercial banks $13.87 million, and specialised banks got $13.27 million.
In February, Islami Bank Bangladesh received the highest amount of remittance — $307.49 million — among the private commercial banks, while Agrani Bank got the highest amount of remittance — $128.67 million — among the state-run banks.
Bangladesh Development Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank, Habib Bank and National Bank of Pakistan failed to earn any inward remittance in February.
The new nine banks which have recently obtained licences to operate banking business also failed to earn inward remittance in the period.
-With New Age input
