Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh’s remittance inflow shows a stronger growth to reach a new record of $8.83 billion of the first four months in the current fiscal, up 43.24 percent over the same period of the previous fiscal.
This figure was $6.16 billion in the same period of the fiscal year 2019-2020.
The new record, in fact, caught many leading economists by surprise as they had predicted the opposite or the negative growth. They said that the expatriates have broken all previous records by sending the amount of money home in the last several months.
Experts also said this is heartening to see that Bangladeshi expatriates are still sending remittances though millions of workers are toiling abroad amid severe conditions due to the slump in oil prices, coronavirus pandemic and other predicaments.
Expatriates are literally providing oxygen to our economy, they added.
The expatriates sent a record remittance of $2.11 billion from different foreign countries in October against only $1.64 billion the same period of the previous year.
This is the highest monthly remittance received continuing in the country’s history helping to push foreign currency reserve to reach a new record of $41 billion at the end of October.
An official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) said various time-befitting initiatives taken by the government have resulted in an increased awareness among expatriate workers to send their hard-earned money through legal channels, pushing up the remittance inflow.
Bangladeshi expatriates in various countries sent home $2.15 billion in September this year, posting a 45.64 percent year-on-year growth compared to $1.47 billion remitted in the same month last year.
The country’s remittance inflow increased 35.93 percent to $1.96 billion in August against $1.44 billion in the same period of the previous year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Expatriates sent a record remittance of $2.60 billion from different foreign countries in July.
The country’s remittance inflow witnessed a record high reaching almost $2.60 billion in July, which for the first time in the history of Bangladesh crossed the remittance inflow to $2.50 billion.
The higher growth of remittance inflow now is attributed to a budget declaration of 2 percent cash incentive to remitters on inward remittance for the last fiscal year.
This will significantly increase the remittance inflow through legal channels and discourage the ‘hundi’ business, economists said.
However, the country’s remittance inflow witnessed a record growth to touch a milestone of $18.20 billion in fiscal 2019-20 despite a global economic recession amid the Covid-19 crisis.
This inflow was 10.85 per cent higher than that in the previous fiscal.
In fiscal (FY) 2018-19, the country’s remittance inflow stood at a record high of $16.41 billion, according to BB.
This inflow increased by about 9.5 per cent in FY19 from $14.98 billion in the previous fiscal.
Bangladeshi expatriates sent home $11.65 billion in FY2011, $12.84 billion in FY2012, $14.46 billion in FY2013, $14.23 billion in FY2014, $15.31 billion in FY2015, $14.93 billion in FY2016, $12.77 billion in FY2017 and $14.98 billion in FY2018 respectively.
More than 1.02 crore Bangladeshi expatriates are currently working in some 174 countries across the world.
