Bangladesh Receives Record Remittance amid Covid-19 Pandemic

In the fiscal year 2020-21, the country received a record remittance of USD 2 Thousand 4 Hundred 77 Crore 77 Lakh, which is 36.10 percent more than the previous fiscal year (2019-20). In the last financial year, the expatriates sent more remittances of 657 Crore as compared to the previous fiscal year.

The amount of remittance in Bangladeshi currency is more than Tk 2 Lakh 10 Thousand 610 Crore. Never before has so much remittance come to Bangladesh.

This information has been revealed from the report published by Bangladesh Bank on Monday (July 5).

According to the central bank, at the end of the last fiscal year 2020-21, expatriate Bangladeshis sent USD 194 Crore in remittances to the country in June. In June last year, the expatriates sent remittances worth USD 183 Crore 26 Lakh.

Bangladesh Bank says that in the fiscal year 2020-21, the expatriates have sent remittances of 610 Crore 62 Lakh through 6 government banks. A specialized bank has received 41 Crore 30 Lakh dollars. Remittances through 39 private commercial banks came to 814 Crore 40 Lakh. And 8 foreign banks have received 11 Crore 45 Lakh dollars.

In the private sector, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited received the highest number of remittances among the banks operating in Bangladesh in the last financial year as a single bank. Expatriates have sent remittances of USD 745 Crore 76 Lakh to the bank. After that, the second-highest remittance of USD 282 Crore 32 Lakh came to Agrani Bank. Dutch Bangla Bank is in the third position with USD 249 Crore in remittances. Sonali Bank has received USD 153 Crore in remittances.

According to the central bank, remittances sent by expatriates in the fiscal year 2019-20 amounted to USD 18.2 Billion. As a financial year, that figure was the highest remittance collection in the history of Bangladesh. Even before that, in the financial year 2018-19, there was a record of remittance collection in the country. At that time remittances of USD 1 thousand 642 Crore came to the country.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank's foreign exchange reserves are in a positive position due to strong remittance inflows. At the end of June, the reserves of Bangladesh Bank stood at USD 46.42 billion dollars. It is possible to meet the import expenditure of 11 and a half months with the foreign exchange in reserves as USD 4 billion per month.

From July 1, 2019, the government is giving incentives at the rate of 2 percent on remittances sent by expatriates. In other words, if an expatriate sends Tk 100 to the country, the beneficiary gets a total of Tk 102 by adding Tk 2 more. In addition, various banks and mobile banking service providers are offering an additional one percent on Eid and other festivals with government incentives.