$1.72b received as remittances in 25 days

Bangladesh received at $1.72 billion as remittance in just 25 days of August amid the ongoing volatility in the country’s foreign exchange market.

Industry insiders think that the inflow of remittance will cross two billion at the end of this month.

During the period, highest $356.23 million remittances came through the Islami Bank Bangladesh; $110.12 million through the Agrani Bank; $109.43 million through the City Bank; and $95.35 million through the Dutch-Bangla Bank, as per the Bangladesh Bank data.

According to the BB data, about $1386 million remittances came through private commercial banks, $315 million through state-run commercial banks and the rest of the amount came through specialised banks and foreign banks.

Remittance earning had slowed in the recent months due to mainly the gap of US dollar rate between the kerb market and the banking channels.

After several months, the remittance earning crossed $2 billion in July of this year. In July, the country received $2.2 billion remittance, as per the BB data.

Still now, there is Tk 8-10 gap of US dollar rate between the kerb market and banking channels, which prompted Bangladeshi expatriates to use hundi system, an illegal cross border transaction, said Bangladesh Bank officials.

Recently, the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association (BAFEDA) urged the government to increase the cash incentive against wage earners’ remittances to 5 per cent from existing 2.5 per cent.

Despite the growing remittance earning, the foreign exchange reserve continued to decline. On Sunday, the forex reserve stood at $39.28 billion, down from $48 billion in August 24 of the last year.

The forex reserve has fall mainly due to the growing import payment after the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukreain war, as per industry insiders.