Remittance inflow rebounds in FY18

Publish: 2:01 PM, July 6, 2018 | Update: 2:01 PM, July 6, 2018

DHAKA – The flow of inward remittance bounced back in the outgoing fiscal year 2017-18 (FY18) after a falling trend in the previous fiscal 2016-17 (FY17) as Bangladesh Bank (BB) took some measures to streamline the legal channel for encouraging the non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to send home money.

Bangladeshi expatriates sent US$14,978.86 million remittance in FY18, which is 17.30 percent higher than the amount received in the preceding fiscal, according to BB.

The country received $12,769.45 million remittance in 2016-17 fiscal. In 2015-16 fiscal, the amount was $14,931.18 million while the Bangladeshi expatriates sent $15,316.91 million in 2014-15 fiscal.

“The central bank took necessary measures to encourage NRBs for sending their money through the legal channel,” BB Deputy Governor Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan told BSS.

He said the flow of remittance indicates that it is gradually increasing and this trend is likely to continue in the 2018-19 fiscal.

According to the BB data, the country received $1,381.55 million in June, $1,504.98 million in May, $1,331.33 million in April, $1,299.77 million in March, $1,149.08 million in February, $1,379.79 million in January, $1,163.82 million in December, $1,214.75 million in November, $1162.77 million in October, $856.87 million in September, $1,418.58 million in August and $1,115.57 million in July in the outgoing 2017-18 fiscal.

But in 2016-17, the country received $1,214.61 million in June, $1,267.61 million in May, $1,092.64 million in April, $1,077.52 million in March, $940.75 million in February, 1,009.47 million in January, $958.73 million in December, $951.37 million in November, $1,010.99 million in October, $1,056.64 million in September, $1,183.61 million in August and $1,005.51 million in July.

In June this year, six state-owned commercial banks – Agrani, Janata, Rupali, Sonali, Basic and BDBL– received $338.58 million while one state-owned specialised bank, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, received $12.50 million.

Of the state-owned banks, Agrani Bank received $135.52 million, Janata Bank $81.83 million, Rupali Bank $19.77 million, Sonali Bank $101.51 million and Basic Bank $0.15 million.

Besides, the expatriates sent $1,018.49 million through private commercial banks and $11.98 million through foreign commercial banks in June this year.

Among the private commercial banks, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL), received the highest amount of $270.47 million followed by Dutch-Bangla Bank (DBBL) which received $102.60 million.

The other top six private banks are – Bank Asia ($53.34 million), Mutual Trust Bank ($50.16 million), National Bank Limited ($46.29 million), Trust Bank ($44.21 million), Pubali Bank Limited ($41.79 million) and BRAC Bank Limited ($41.54 million).