Bangladesh received inward remittances of USD $2.16 billion in February, which is the highest in 8 months (July-February) in the current fiscal year 2023-24. According to the provisional data of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) revealed on Sunday, the expatriates sent $2.16 billion remittance to the country through the legal channel. In the previous month January, the expatriates had sent $2.10 billion in remittances. Bangladesh has received so far $13.26 billion in inward remittances in the first eight months of the year through the legal channel. Md Mezbaul Haque, BB spokesperson, told UNB that inward remittances flow increased in the legal channel as the government and banks are providing incentives. Read more: Brac Bank introduces digital Form C, electronic document submission platform for commercial remittances He said the central bank instructed banks to provide additional incentives from their financial sources, which keeps a role in increasing the flow of inward remittances in the legal channel. With the government's 2.5 percent incentive on expatriate income, banks can buy dollars at an additional 2.5 percent higher price. A total of 5 percent is getting incentives. As a result, remittances are coming to the country through legal channels. The executive director of the private research institute South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) Prof Dr. Selim Raihan said that a total of 5 percent incentive on remittances will help to boost remittances temporarily. But there will be no long-term solution. Dr. Raihan said,”To increase remittances, hundi should be stopped. If you want to stop hundi, you have to stop money laundering. Now a lot of money is being smuggled abroad. It has to be controlled by any means.”  Read more: How to safely send remittance to Bangladesh?

Bangladesh received USD $1.70 billion inward remittance in December 2022 through the banking channel, up by 4.23 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. In November, the expatriates sent home $1.59 billion through the legal channel, according to Bangladesh Bank an updated report released on Sunday. The central bank has been trying to increase inward remittance flow through banking channels by offering incentives and higher exchange rates of the US dollar. Read: BB moves to encourage greater flow of remittance to boost forex A review of the remittance flow showed that the total remittance received in the first 6 months of the fiscal year 2022-23 (July- December) was $ 10.49 billion. In the same period of the previous financial year, the expatriates sent $10.24 billion in remittances. Accordingly, in the first 6 months of this fiscal year, Bangladesh received $287 million more in remittances. The BB spokesperson Mesbaul Haque told UNB that in order to increase remittance inflow, the central bank has increased the exchange rate of US dollar. Read: Bangladesh received $357.76mn remittance in first week of Oct In addition to a 2.5 percent hassle-free incentive for remittance, several banks also provide additional incentives to attract foreign exchange, he said. Banks will not cut any charge or fee for sending remittances in the legal channel, he said. Research by Bangladesh Bank found that more than 40 percent of remittance of expatriate income is sent in the country through hundi or unofficial channel. Read More: Banks to stop charging any fees for handling remittances

The remittance inflow moved slightly upward in the first 25 days of this August as Bangladeshi expatriates sent out more than $1.72 billion through the official banking channels, according to data submitted to the Bangladesh Bank by different banks. Bangladesh received $2.92 billion inward remittances in July, thanks to Eid-ul-Azha when Bangladeshis living abroad sent more money to families to celebrate one of the biggest festivals for Muslims. The expatriates sent $1.81 billion in remittances in August of the last fiscal year. Also read: Bangladesh receives $2.09 billion remittance in July; highest in 14 months Amid declining foreign exchange reserves due to rising import bills, many private sector banks are now bringing home more remittances than the public sector ones. Different private banks are buying dollars at a higher rate than state-owned ones, which is helping them attract more remittances. From 1 to 25 August, Islami Bank received $356.23 million, Agrani Bank $110.12 million, and City Bank 109.43 million in remittances. Pubali Bank received $5.48 million, Dutch-Bangla Bank $95.38 million, and Rupali Bank $93.53 million. Also read: Bangladesh receives $1.64 billion remittance in 21 days of July:BB Bangladesh saw its inward remittance drop by 15.12 percent to $21.03 billion year-on-year in FY22 after growing by more than 36 percent to $24.78 in FY21. It is mentionable though, that the drop is made steeper by the fact that the inward remittance figure for FY21 was an all-time record.

The monthly inflow of remittances hit an all-time high in April ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, reaching $2.067 billion. Expatriate Bangladeshis sent $1.91 billion in remittances in March; which rose 8.19% in April, according to the Bangladesh Bank. Read bKash offers 1 pc cash bonus on receiving remittance Expatriates sent $2.06 billion in remittance in April, up 89.17% year-on-year from the same period of last year. Remittance inflow usually increases ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha, as the expatriates send a big chunk of foreign currencies to the country ahead of two major religious festivals of the Muslims, experts said. Read BB further simplifies outward remittance rules for industrialists Although the pandemic has slowed down the global economy, remittance inflow grew 39% to $20.67 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, compared to the same period of the last fiscal. The remittance earnings have begun an upward march amid the Covid-19 pandemic as the government and the central bank took several initiatives to boost it; the migrant workers have already become used to the legal channels and are enjoying the 2% cash incentive, experts said. Read Remittances: First 6 months of fiscal sees over 37 percent growth

Inward remittances witnessed a massive growth of 37.6 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal 2020-21, over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.