Bangladesh received $12b remittance in 9 months

Bangladeshi expatriates sent nearly US $12 billion remittance in the first nine months of the current fiscal 2018-19 -- highest in the last three years.

During the July-March period in the current fiscal, they had sent $11.87 billion, 10.30 percent higher than the amount received in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal.

According to Bangladesh Bank, the country received $10.76 billion remittance during July-March period of 2017-18 financial year while $9.19 billion in 2016-17, $11.06 billion in 2015-16 and $11.26 billion in 2014-15.

“The remittance inflow shows an upward trend as Bangladesh Bank has taken measures to streamline legal channels for encouraging non-resident Bangladeshis to send money to the country,” said the bank's Chief Spokesperson M Serajul Islam.

He said this trend is likely to continue in the upcoming months. According to BB data, the country received $1.46 billion in March; $1.32 billion in February; $1.60 billion in January; $1.21 billion in December; $1.18 billion in November; $1.24 billion in October; $1.14 billion in September; $1.41 billion in August and $1.32 billion in July of the fiscal 2018-19.

In March 2019, six state-owned commercial banks -- Agrani, Janata, Rupali, Sonali, BASIC and BDBL -- received $0.33 billion while state-owned specialised bank, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, received $0.018 billion.

Of the state-owned banks, Agrani Bank received $0.13 billion; Janata Bank $0.075 billion; Rupali Bank $0.019 billion; Sonali Bank $0.10 billion and BASIC Bank $0.00008 billion. Besides, the expatriates have sent $1.10 billion through private commercial banks.

Among the private ones, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) received the highest amount of $0.28 billion where as Dutch-Bangla Bank (DBBL) received $0.12 billion.