Bangladesh Bank has asked banks to provide Tk 107 per US dollar inward remittance. A remitter will now get Tk 107 per dollar, even if they send remittance directly through banks. Currently, remitters are getting Tk 99.5 per dollar through the banking channel. Remittance flow through banks fell drastically in September and October. Read more: Bangladesh Bank will go slow in calculating reserves following IMF formula Apart from this, the banks will not charge any fee for remittance collection from now on. At the same time, in the current reality of foreign exchange reserves, banks have to open LCs with dollar resources from their own sources, Bangladesh Bank said to the commercial banks These instructions were given on Monday (October 31, 2022) in a meeting between the central bank and the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), an association of banks' chief executives, and the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association (BAFEDA) Deputy Governor Ahmed Jamal and Kazi Sayedur Rahman were present at the meeting. Read more: Bangladesh Bank asks banks to stop ACU transactions with Sri Lanka ABB Chairman and BRAC Bank Managing Director (MD) Salim RF Hossain, on behalf of the banks, BAFEDA Chairman and Sonali Bank MD Afzal Karim, Mutual Trust Bank MD Syed Mahbubur Rahman, City Bank MD Masrur Arefin and others were present. Besides, the central bank has asked to increase the number of exchange houses outside the country to encourage remittance collection directly through banks by reducing the dependence on foreign exchange houses. In this case, the central bank will provide the necessary assistance. Banks have committed to implementing these decisions. Read More: How to safely send remittance to Bangladesh?

Bangladesh received inward remittance worth USD 2.03 billion in August — raising hope amidst a forex crisis. In July, the first month of FY 2022-23, migrant workers sent home $2.09 billion remittance, said a Bangladesh Bank report. The inward remittance flow was $1.87 billion in July and $1.81 billion in August in FY 2021-22. Also read: Bangladesh receives $2.09 billion remittance in July; highest in 14 months Bangladesh received $21.03 billion remittance in FY 22, showing a 15 per cent fall from $24.77 billion inward remittance in FY 21. The remittance flow in the first two months of the current fiscal year is providing a glimmer of hope for forex reserve — crucial to meet the growing import demands. Md Serajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, told UNB that the central bank has simplified various processes to attract more remittances through banking channels. The government is also extending remittance incentives as well as providing policy support. Now the dollar rate is getting higher, he said. Also read: Banks report $1.72 billion inward remittances till August 25 The sector insiders said that Bangladesh’s inward remittance flow will grow more as manpower export hit a new high in the past fiscal thanks to the post-pandemic rebound of the overseas job market. The data of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) showed over 9.88 lakh workers had gone abroad in FY 22 while this figure was 2.71 lakh in FY 21. This happens to be the highest number of annual overseas jobs in the last seven years. Read How to safely send remittance to Bangladesh? Officials hope the outflow of workers would increase in the current fiscal year as Malaysia is going to restart hiring manpower from the country, following a negotiated deal. The statistics showed that a low number of 271,445 workers found jobs in FY 21 during the peak pandemic while 498,983 in FY 20, 659,044 in FY 19, 866,417 in FY 18, 893,736 in FY 17, and 672,721 in FY 16.

Bangladeshi expatriates have sent inward remittance worth USD $2.09 billion in July, first month of current fiscal year, Bangladesh Bank (BB) report said. The BB report released on Monday stated that the remittance flow of July is the highest in 14 months. The bankers and concerned people said that the holy Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated in July. Expatriates usually send additional money to their relatives during the Eid. Also read: Bangladesh receives $1.64 billion remittance in 21 days of July:BB Md Serajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson of BB told UNB that the central bank has simplified various processes to attract more remittance through banking channels. The government is also extending remittance incentives as well as providing policy support. Now the dollar rate is getting higher, he said. "Besides, last month was Eid-ul-Azha, expatriates sent money to celebrate the family's Eid festival beautifully. Remittances have increased due to these reasons. I hope this trend will continue,” Serajul said. Also read: Digitalization: Global remittances flows expected to reach US$5.4 trillion by 2030 In June, the ending month of the last fiscal year, the expatriates sent $1.83 billion inward remittance through the banking channel. Bangladesh received the highest $24.77 billion inward remittance in FY2020-21, amid global movement restrictions along with air flight due to the worsening situation of Covid-19 pandemic. After that in FY 22 remittance income fell to $21.03 billion. Read BB allows floating exchange rate of US dollar amid pressure The sector insiders and experts believed that around $2 billion remittances entered Bangladesh on illegal paths despite different initiatives, including incentives as stimulus to send remittance in the legal channel. Sources said a number of Bangladeshi expatriates in the Middle East, Malaysia, the USA, and Europe who cannot send money to the country in the banking channels lack valid documents. As a result, they have to depend on the illegal hundi and other informal channels for sending their earnings to relatives in Bangladesh. Read BB moves to encourage greater flow of remittance to boost forex

Bangladesh received (USD) $1553.70 million inward remittance in November, which is considered lowest in 18 months. Bangladesh Bank (BB) data shows that the expatriates sent $1553.70 million remittance in November 2021 compared to $2078.74 million in November 2020 amid the Covid-induced lockdown in almost all their host countries. Read: Bangladesh’s forex reserve expected to thrive on increased remittance inflow According to the BB, in the first five months (July-November) of the fiscal year (FY) 2021-22, Bangladesh received remittance of $8.61 billion down from $10.89 billion in the FY 2020-21. It means the expatriates’ income has decreased by 21 per cent to $2.28 billion in five month in the current fiscal year. The expatriate income shows fall for last five months in the current fiscal year despite renewed economic activities in the Middle Eastern and European countries and the USA.   The sector insiders say money transactions on illegal channels (hundi) have increased since the pandemic related restrictions were lifted. Besides, the rate of new employment has been lower than the job loss. Read: Bangladesh Bank allows receiving remittances through OPGSPs The inward remittance inflow of last five months of FY22 saw decreasing trend compared with the same period in the FY21. Arrival of remittance was $1.87 million in July, $1810.10 million in August, $1726.71 million in September, $1646.87 million in October and $1553.70 million in November of FY22. In the F21 inward remittance was received $2598.21 million in July, $1963.94 million in August, $2151.05 million in September, $1646.87 million in October and $2078.74 million in November.