The FY20 national budget proposes to introduce two percent incentive to cut the transfer cost of remittance.

In his budget speech at Parliament on Thursday (Jun 13), AHM Mustafa Kamal said it aims to mitigate the burden of increased expenses in sending foreign remittances and encourage bringing in foreign remittances through legal channels.

He proposed to allocate Tk 30.6 billion in the upcoming fiscal.

“This will significantly increase the remittance flow through legal channels and discourage the ‘hundi’ business,” said Kamal.

Bangladesh receives over $15 billion per year in remittance and a significant amount has been routed through illegal channel.

The minister said the government is planning to bring the expatriate workers under an insurance scheme which will be implemented shortly.

“The expatriate Bangladeshi workers and their families often face financial losses and risks due to accidents and various other reasons as there are no insurance facilities available to them,” he said.

On sending more Bangladeshis abroad he said Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment ministry has already conducted a survey titled ‘Demand Analysis of Employment of Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in the International Labour Market’ on labour markets in 53 countries.