The remittance inflow of Bangladesh has reached US $ 2.17 billion this February – hitting the US $ 2 billion mark for two consecutive months, according to Bangladesh Bank.
Revealing the data on 3rd March, the remittance inflow rose year-on-year by 39.10 per cent this February. Besides, the month’s remittance stands at an eight-month high. The country’s remittance inflow stood at US $ 2.10 billion in January.
According to Prof Mustafisur Rahman, a Distinguished Fellow of the renowned think tank, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), “Monthly remittance stayed below US $ 2 billion in the first half of FY ’24. But it is good for the economy that the inflow exceeded this mark for two consecutive months.”
“I think this was possible as banks are offering an extra 2.5 per cent incentive from their funds, resulting in a boosted inflow of remittance for the last two months. But the banks will have to stop giving extra incentives to check the costs.”, he added.
The remittance rate was set at Taka 109.50 by the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association (BAFEDA) and the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh Limited (ABB).
Dr. Zahid Hussain, former lead economist of the World Bank Dhaka Office praised this achievement by saying “We had seen the remittance inflow crossing US $ 2 billion several times during the Covid crisis. This phenomenon indicates that the country can gain over US $ 2 billion in remittance every month.”
Remittance inflow during the July–February FY ’24 period was US $ 15.07 billion, according to a study of regulator statistics; this represents a 7.57 per cent increase over the same time the previous year.
