Remittance rises 35pc in 9 months
Remittances sent by migrant workers and non-resident Bangladeshis rose 35 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, hitting $18.60 billion in total.
In March alone, migrants remitted $1.91 billion from different countries, up 50 per cent from a year ago, the highest growth since last August, showed data from Bangladesh Bank.
Remittance inflow, one of the main barometers of the economy, dipped from March to May of 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Inflow rebounded in June and its upward trend continued as hundi, an illegal medium of fund transfer, declined amid lockdowns slapped by states and restrictions on movement.
The surge in remittance inflows, one of the main sources of foreign exchange reserves, continues at a time when the outflow of migrant workers for jobs abroad slumped 69 per cent year-on-year to 217,669 in 2020.
Until February this year, 85,242 workers left for jobs abroad, showed data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
Shariful Hasan, head of the Brac Migration Programme, said migrant workers, who, as a group, were one of the major suppliers of foreign exchange, sent more money to support family members during the pandemic.
Some also lost their jobs when the host countries imposed lockdowns to contain the deadly virus, which might have compelled migrants to send all their assets back home, he said.
"The hundi system has come to a halt because of the restriction on movement and this also might have taken remittance to a new high," said Abul Kashem Md Shirin, managing director of Dutch Bangla Bank.
A good number of countries, including Bangladesh, has started facing a second wave, which may further push remittance, he added.
Some of the nations have already imposed strict restrictions on movement, which may help increase the inflow.
Restrictions on cross-boundary travel has also dealt a blow to the hundi system, Shirin said.
Remittance may decrease to some extent when the pandemic is declared to have ended as the global hundi cartel will witness a revival, said a central bank official.
He, however, said the pandemic would help a large number of migrant workers get accustomed to the formal channel for the transfer of their hard-earned money.
This will play a positive role in increasing remittance in the days to come, he said.
The 2 per cent cash incentive introduced by the government in 2019 has also encouraged the expatriate Bangladeshis to send more money through formal channels.
Riding on the strong remittance inflow, the country's foreign exchange reserve has come to stand at $43.36 as of March 24 in contrast to $32.56 billion one year ago.
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