Bangladesh receives $109cr in remittance from May 1 to 19

Bangladeshi expatriates are struggling in their host countries as many of them have lost jobs due to global coronavirus pandemic. Yet they sent home $109.10 crore in remittance in the first 19 days of May this year – pretty close to $109.40 crore sent during the same period last year, as per Bangladesh Bank records. 

From May 1 to 19 this year, Bangladesh received remittance amounting to Tk9,273 crore (USD 1 = Tk 85), whereas it received Tk9,300 crore in the same period last year. Since there was no natural disaster or calamity, Bangladeshi expatriates sent record $174.81 crore in remittance in May last fiscal year, ahead of Eid.

Bankers said as many host countries have enforced lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus, expatriates’ avenues of income have been shut, while many have come back home losing their jobs.

Yet Bangladeshi migrants are sending home money. Whoever are coming home bag and baggage, are also channelling the money to Bangladesh prior to their arrival since they cannot bring in more money with them, said the bankers. That’s why, remittance flow is still quite good even in this pandemic situation, they said, warning that the flow might see a decline in the days to come.   

Anis A Khan, former chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh, said ahead of Eid, expatriates send money home even by borrowing. 

On the other hand, whoever will come back home permanently are sending the money from their savings, he said. The real picture can be found in June as remittance earnings might drop, he added.

Though a few host countries have relaxed the lockdown a bit, many others have kept the banks and remittance houses shut due to the pandemic. As a result, Bangladeshi expatriates, especially those in the Middle East, are in trouble. The top 15 countries, from where Bangladesh earns remittance, are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the United States, Kuwait, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Italy, Bahrain, Singapore, South Africa, France, South Korea, and Jordan.

To increase remittance flow through the authorised channel, the government announced to give 2 percent incentives on remittances in 2019-20 fiscal year. Since July 1 last year, expatriates have been receiving Tk 2 as incentive for remitting Tk 100. The government also allocated Tk3,060 crore for the incentives in the budget.

Meanwhile, Asian Development Bank has given Bangladesh $25 crore as budget assistance. Because of the flow of remittance and the foreign assistance, Bangladesh's foreign currency reserves have increased to $3,319.80 crore now. The country's foreign exchange reserve earlier fell to $3,200 crore following the ACU (Asian Clearing Union) settlement.

The ACU is a payment arrangement for transactions made between Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

On the other hand, many banks are now struggling to meet import payments due to the dollar storage. To address the problem, Bangladesh Bank even Thursday sold $1 crore to commercial banks. With this, the central bank has so far sold $82 crore to the banks in the current fiscal. However, state-owned banks are the largest buyers of the dollars. These banks are buying the dollars to make import payments against big government projects.

/at