Expatriate Bangladeshis sent a record amount of remittance in the first month of the year.
Remittance inflow in January stood at US$ 1.2 billion, up by $39.03 million the same month last year.
“The flow of remittances into the country shows an upward trend in the current fiscal 2018-19 as BB has taken measures to streamline the legal channel for encouraging Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to send money to the country,” BB Chief Spokesperson M Serajul Islam told BSS.
He said the recent flow of remittance indicates that it is gradually increasing and this trend is likely to continue in the upcoming months.
As of Sunday (Feb 3), Bangladesh’s foreign reserves stood at $31.39 billion. The amount has not dipped below $31 billion since 2016.
In January this fiscal, six state-owned commercial banks- Agrani, Janata, Rupali, Sonali, Basic and BDBL- received $280.71 million while one state-owned specialised bank- Bangladesh Krishi Bank- received $15.10 million.
Of the state-owned banks, Agrani Bank received $118.72 million, Janata Bank $58.45 million, Rupali Bank $16.22 million, Sonali Bank $87.17 million and Basic Bank received $0.15 million.
Besides, the expatriates have sent $978.38 million through private commercial banks