Expatriate Bangladeshis have sent $1.48 billion in remittance during May, registering a growth of $151.52 million from the previous month.
In May last year, remittance inflow stood at $1.27 billion remittances.
In the eleven months of the current FY18, remittances have clocked to $13.6 against $11.56 billion over the same period last fiscal.
According to Bangladesh Bank figures, expatriates have used more private banking channels for sending $1.09 billion remittances in May.
The six state-owned commercial banks —Agrani, Janata, Rupali, Sonali, Basic, BDBL and Bangladesh Krishi Bank— received $371.87 million.
Of the state-owned banks, Agrani Bank received $143.23 million, Janata Bank $86.75 million, Rupali Bank $18.83 million, Sonali Bank $110.57 million and Basic Bank $0.22 million.
Besides, the expatriates have sent $13.41 million through foreign commercial banks.
Among the private banks, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) received the highest amount of $284.25 million as Dutch-Bangla Bank (DBBL) received $87.98 million.
Explaining the rise in remittance, private think tank Policy Research Institute’s Executive Director Ahsan H Mansur said, “Expatriates are sending more remittance due to increase in the price of US dollar.”
Banks are also showing more interest in receiving remittance as the volume of import increases, Mansur said.
Remittance contributes 12 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.