Expats remit $740m in first half of September

The country received USD 740 million in remittances in the first 15 days of September, according to the latest data released by Bangladesh Bank.

Inflow of remittance was roughly similar to that of the amount received last month. Bangladesh received USD 1.6 billion in remittance in August.

Remittance is one of the prime sources of dollar for Bangladesh.

Recently, Bangladesh Bank warned 10 private banks for higher exchange rate of dollars. So, banks are not taking risks to provide higher exchange rate, resulting in a fall in remittance, people concerned from banking sector said.

Data from Bangladesh Bank shows expatriates sent USD 66.4 million in remittances through state-owned banks and USD 19.88 million via a specialised bank while USD 650.71 million came through private banks and USD 2.99 million via foreign banks.

Remittance fell by USD 373.7 million to about USD 1.60 billion in August from a little over 1.97 billion in July, the first month of the 2023-24 fiscal.

Bankers said, at present, the exchange rate of dollars is fixed at Tk 109.50 a dollar, and on the top of that there is 2.5 per cent of incentive on remittance, taking dollar exchange rate to Tk 112 a dollar.

However, the price of dollars is over Tk 115 a dollar in hundi as dollar is sold at Tk 117-118 a dollar in the kerb market. If the government maintains the existing exchange rate of dollars, remittance through legal channels will not increase, they insisted.

Bangladesh received USD 21.62 billion in remittances in the 2022-23 fiscal, USD 21.03 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal and USD 24.78 billion in the 2020-21 fiscal.