Remittance inflow hit record $16.4 billion in the just concluded fiscal year (FY) 2018-19, which the central bank attributes to the continuous depreciation of taka against the greenback.
The inflow was 9.47% higher compared to last fiscal year. The remittance in 2017-18 fiscal year stood at $14.98 billion, according to data of Bangladesh Bank.
As the exchange rate has increased significantly in recent times, expatriates were encouraged to remit more amounts of funds to their families in Bangladesh, according to analysts.
Before this year’s record remittance, Bangladesh received highest $15.32 billion remittance from in 2014-2015 fiscal year.
The country received $12.76 billion in remittances in FY17 and $14.93 billion in FY16.
The record $1.76 billion remittance by the expatriates in May, the month that immediately preceded Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, also helped attaining the record volume of remittance in the last fiscal year, said Bangladesh Bank Spokesperson and Executive Director Serajul Islam.
Appreciation of the dollar in the country’s local market against taka is a major stimulus for sending more remittance through legal channels, a Bangladesh Bank high official has said.
The interbank exchange rate of a US dollar increased to Tk 84.5 on Wednesday from Tk 83.9 in the beginning of this year.
The government has allocated Tk 30.60 billion in the budget for the fiscal year of 2019-20 to provide 2 percent incentive against remittance receipts and to encourage the expatriate workers to send more and more money through legal channels.
Bankers hope that remittance will increase further in the upcoming days due to the incentive.