Expats remit $770m in first two weeks of Oct

Bangladesh received $769.88 million in remittance in first two weeks of October (2-13), Bangladesh Bank data revealed on Sunday, reports UNB.

Bangladeshi expatriates sent inward remittance of $1.54 billion in September – the lowest in last 7 months.

After a decline in September, remittances showed a slow pace in October as well. In first two weeks of October, Bangladeshi expatriates sent inward remittances of $769.88 million. It indicates that at the end of this month, remittance flow could be $1.6 billion.

Despite increasing the cash incentives to 2.5 per cent, from 2 per cent, in the current fiscal year (2022-23), inward flow of remittance saw a fall in September.

Bangladesh is receiving an average of $59.22 million in remittance per day through banking channels.

The fiscal year started with growth trend of inward remittance while the country received $2.09 billion remittance in July and $2.03 billion in August. But the trend fell in September with the fall of exchange rate of the dollar.

Financial sector insiders believe that expatriate workers prefers Hundi for inward remittance as the exchange rate of the US dollar is Tk 8 to 14 higher in the kerb market.