Remittances take a dip

WITH troubles continuing to brew in the Middle East, which happens to be by far the largest destination for our expatriate workers, that the country has experienced a fall in inward remittances does not come as a total surprise. Needless to say it has policymakers worried. From data published by the Bangladesh Bank, we understand that remittances recorded during 2013-14 were down by approximately 1.6 per cent. This could not have come at a worse time, especially since the government is gearing up to undertake construction of one of the largest infrastructure projects, the much anticipated Padma Bridge. And this is not the only project that will require substantial foreign exchange commitments over the next couple of years.
Looking beyond the chaotic politics of the Middle East, we have been unable to resolve the issue of sending bulk number of workers abroad due to the slow pace of implementing government-to-government deals. A prime example of the inadequacies involved in state-to-state dealing is the case of Malaysia. Given the fact that the country has benefitted enormously from inward remittances over the last decade, there is absolutely no room for sluggish action at policy level to rectify the situation. There has been little movement in exploring new markets for Bangladeshi migrant workers. Time has surely arrived for us to get a move on in this area. By all counts, with existing markets in a state of near-constant political and social flux, finding new labour markets must be a top priority for the government.