‘Country received $15b remittance in 11 months’

Bangladesh Bank
Bangladesh Bank

Bangladesh received some US$ 15 billion remittance in the first 11 months of the outgoing fiscal year of 2018-19, according to statistics placed by finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in parliament on Saturday.

"The amount of remittance sent by expatriate Bangladeshis till May of the current fiscal year (2018-'19) is US$ 15,059 million, which is US$ 1,462 million higher than the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year," he said.

The finance minister placed the data while replying to a tabled question from treasury bench member Anwarul Azim Anar (Jhenaidah-4).

In reply to another question from Awami League MP Faridul Haque Khan (Jamalpur-2), he said Bangladesh received a total of US$ 5,213.39 million (disbursement) from donor countries and agencies till May in the current fiscal year against different projects.

Of the amount, US$ 4,974.49 million was received as loan while the rest US$ 238.90 million as donation, Kamal said.

Replying to a scripted question from AL MP Habiba Rahman Khan (Reserved seat-17), Mustafa Kamal said Bangladesh has foreign debt liability amounting to US$ 55,158 million (according to data of December 2018).

Bangladesh had to pay US$ 945 million interest against the foreign debt in 2018, he added.