Flow of Bangladesh’s inward remittances grew by over 48 per cent in the first quarter (July-Sept) of the current fiscal year (2020-21) despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, official sources said.
The inflow of remittances increased to US$6.71 billion during the July-September period, from $4.52 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to Bangladesh Remittance Statistics provided by the country’s central bank Bangladesh Bank.
Sum of remittances sent home by Bangladeshis working abroad amounted to $2.15 billion alone in this past September, up by $187 million from the value in just the previous month.
The inward remittances at the end of August last stood at $1.96 billion.
However, the figure of homebound remittances was $1.48 billion in September 2019.
When asked, Kazi Sayedur Rahman, executive director of the central bank, said, Bangladesh Remittance Statistics “We expect that the upward trend of inward remittances will continue to flow even in the coming months.”
He, however, thinks that since the government continued to provide 2.0 per cent incentive on inward receipts of remittances, it maintained the upward growth.
Prof Selim Raihan, executive of South Asian Network on Economic Modeling, said the recent growth was a positive sign considering remittance’s importance within the country’s economy and also because it happened during the pandemic.
“But the priority is to carry on thereto ,” he told this newspaper by phone.
Pointing to the remittance growth achieved at the top of the outgoing financial year , Prof Selim, an educator of economics at Dhaka University, said it had been important that it continued towards the top of the year or the financial year .
The country received a record of $18.20 billion in remittance within the last financial year , up from 11 percent year-on-year, shows BB data.
Saudi Arabia was the highest remittance-generating country for Bangladesh in 2019-2020 with $4 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates ($2.47 billion) and therefore the USA ($2.4 billion), shows the info .
Other top remittance-generating countries included Kuwait, UK, Oman, Malaysia, Qatar, Italy, and Singapore.
Prof Selim Raihan suggested introducing “privilege cards” for remitters to encourage them to send more.
Mohammad Shams-Ul Islam, director , and chief military officer of Agrani Bank, said they received about $435 million in July and about $235-$240 million in August in remittance.
Agrani Bank is now the second-highest remittance receiver after Islami Bank among all banks.
The bank usually received 10-11 percent of the entire monthly remittance which increased to about 17 percent in July, he told The Daily Star by phone.
He termed the surge a “remarkable achievement” and said they need recently launched an app-based system in Singapore to succeed in Bangladeshi remitters.
Using the app, one can remit money staying reception , he said, adding the app would be launched in other countries also .
Md Mahbub-ul-Alam, MD of Islami Bank, said both the govt and therefore the financial institution should take initiatives to widen the quantity of the remittance distribution channels in order that the receivers get the fund easily.
The lender has received remittance worth $756 million in September, up 147 percent year-on-year.
The government should still provide cash incentives to remitters within the years to return in order that remittance maintains the upward trend, he said.
Shariful Islam, head of Brac Migration Programme, said about one lakh migrant workers returned to the country amid the pandemic.
“They tried to remit their last penny before returning home,” he said.
Prof Tasneem Siddiqui, founding chair of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), said the high remittance inflow didn’t necessarily reflect that each one migrants remitted their earnings during the pandemic.
Inward remittance might be higher by ensuring the engagement of more migrants within the formal channel, she added.
“This may be a lesson to find out,” said Prof Tasneem, adding more government initiatives were needed to show remitters from “the informal flow towards the formal flow”.
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