Remittance soars 32pc

Migrant workers sent home $1.63 billion in October, the second largest remittance inflow in a single month, as the government’s move to incentivise remitters from this fiscal year is appearing to be doing its trick.

In the budget for fiscal 2019-20, the government introduced a 2 percent cash subsidy for remitters to encourage them to send money home through the legal channel.

Last month’s receipts were up 32.28 percent from a year earlier and 11.64 percent from a month earlier, according to the latest data from the central bank.

Expatriate Bangladeshis sent record amounts in May: $1.70 billion.

As per a central bank notice, for amounts of up to $1,500 expatriates will receive 2 percent incentive directly to their accounts without any verification.

In case of remittance of more than $1,500, sources of income and other documents will have to be presented to avoid misuse of fund.

Remittance flow will get more momentum in the months ahead because of the latest initiative, which will help the government mitigate the balance of payments crisis, said a Bangladesh Bank official. Between the months of July and October, remittance also increased 20.39 percent year-on-year to $6.15 billion.

The exchange rate of the taka against the US dollar is also favourable for remitters, which has encouraged them to send their hard-earned money through the banking channel, said a banker.

Yesterday, the interbank exchange rate was Tk 84.75 per USD, up from Tk 83.85 a year earlier, according to the website of the BB.