Clicky
Editorial

Remittance continues to beat all odds

Credit goes to the prudence of government policies


Bangladeshpost
Published : 05 Aug 2020 10:12 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 03:16 AM

Falsifying all the negative predictions that Bangladesh would be one of those Asian economies that would suffer the most from a fall in remittance, our expatriate workers have sent home $2.6 billion in the month of July alone, which is the highest remittance received in a month in the history of the nation. 

Equally gratifying to note is the percentage of increase -- 62.5 percent over the same previous period and 42.1 percent over June, according to Bangladesh Bank. This has helped take our central bank’s foreign exchange reserves to a record $37 billion. 

However, the credit goes to the government for giving 2 per cent incentives on remittances since July 1, 2019 which has played an important role in encouraging expatriates to send more money through legal channels.

Remittance inflow to the country is touching new heights every passing year notwithstanding multifarious limitations and challenges. Money sent home by our expat workers has long been the driving force for fostering the country’s economic growth. 


A 2 percent cash incentive from the government has 

played an important role in encouraging expatriates 

to send more money through legal channels


Though millions of Bangladeshi migrant workers are going through harsh times abroad due to COVID-19 pandemic, still they are providing oxygen for the economy by continuing to send remittances.

As a result of the government’s various endeavours, the tempo of the country’s remittance inflow has remarkably progressed over the last several years. Moreover, expat workers’ hard-earned money, sent through proper channels, immensely contributed to the boost in economy. 

It is expected that if we can send more skilled workers to new and potential destinations, the remittance inflow will increase substantially in the future.  But it is dissatisfying to note that larger portion of the remittance comes only from 10 countries; hence, more stress on finding new work destinations should be given in no time.

In this regard, we need to encourage more European countries to take our workers. And in order to do that, we must ensure that they are skilled and have basic knowledge about foreign languages as well as adaptation abilities. Also we must ensure proper training for those seeking overseas jobs before sending them abroad.