Banks must pay remittances in 2 working days

The banks must disburse remittances to the beneficiaries within two working days. The Bangladesh Bank issued a circular in this regard on Thursday, and sent it to all the commercial banks.

Earlier, the regulator had made disbursement of remittance with 2 working days mandatory for all commercial banks through a circular in 2014. The latest circular acts as a reminder.

On condition of anonymity, a senior official at the central bank told The Business Post, “The regulator has observed that several banks are delaying the payment of remittances to beneficiaries.

“As a result, the receivers are facing problems, which are also causing problems for the remitters’ family members. So, we have again reminded the banks that they should pay remittances timely. This is why we sent this circular to all scheduled banks.”

Before 2014, as per the then rules, banks had to pay remittance to beneficiaries within 72 hours.

Remittance inflow, a major source of USD earnings for Bangladesh, dropped to a three and a half year low this September, at a time when the country remains laser focused on boosting foreign exchange reserves.

According to Bangladesh Bank data, remittance inflow stood at $1.34 billion in September 2023 – lowest since the country recorded $1.27 billion back in March 2020. When compared year-on-year, remittance fell by 12.72 per cent or 200 million in the same month.