Bangladesh receives $1.64b remittances in 21 days of July

Bangladesh received US$1.643 billion inward remittance till July 21, thanks to Eid-ul-Azha when Bangladeshi migrants sent more money to families to celebrate one of the biggest festivals for Muslims, according to data from Bangladesh Bank.

It means, on average, the expatriates sent $78.22 million in remittance into the country during July 01-21, the opening month of the fiscal year 2022-23.

In June, the last month of the fiscal year, the expatriates sent home $1.83 billion in remittance through the banking channel, reports UNB citing BB figures on Monday.

Bangladesh received the highest $24.77 billion remittance in FY21, amid global travel restrictions amid Covid-19 pandemic.

In FY22 remittance income fell to $21.03 billion following the lifting of travel restrictions and sending of money through unofficial channels, people involved with the issue said.

The sector insiders and experts suspected that around $2.0 billion in remittances entered Bangladesh through unofficial routes despite stimulus incentives offered by the government to use official channels.

Sources said a good number of Bangladeshi workers in the Middle East, Malaysia, the USA and Europe failed to send money through proper baking channels for lack of valid documents.

This led to the increasing use of illegal hundi and other informal channels by the expatriates, they said speaking on conditioned they can't be identified.

According to BB, between July 1 and 21, six state-owned bank received $254.92 million inward remittance, two specialised banks received $27.69 million, and 41 private commercial banks received $1.356 billion while nine foreign commercial banks received $3.94 million.