Deliver remittance fast at lowest charge: BB

Bangladesh Bank has instructed banks to disburse remittance among beneficiaries within the quickest possible time and charge the minimum in order to increase the inflow.

Banks should apply agent banking and mobile financial services to send out remittances among near and dear ones of expatriate Bangladeshis, BB Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury said yesterday.

He was addressing a meeting with managing directors of the top 20 remittance earning banks at the central bank headquarters in the capital.

From now on, all migrant workers have to open a bank account before leaving the country and the banks should extend their cooperation to the workers to this effect, he said.   

The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment on August 24 issued a directive saying all migrant workers would have to open bank accounts.

Chowdhury asked the banks to use digital payment systems to bring in remittance from abroad to encourage both remitters and beneficiaries. 

The central bank has long been trying to increase remittance but its initiatives have apparently been in vain as the inflow dropped to a seven-year low in September.

Many expatriate Bangladeshis have opted to send money home through illegal channels like hundi, which according to BB has deflated official remittance figures.

Another reason for the slump is that the economic scenario in the Middle East, which hosts the majority of migrant workers from Bangladesh, is yet to improve despite the slight pick-up in oil price in recent months.

Remittance inflow in fiscal 2016-17 was the lowest in six years, a development that can be viewed as a dark cloud over an otherwise buoyant economy.

Migrant workers sent home $12.77 billion last fiscal year, down 14.47 percent year-on-year.