THE decline in the expatriate workers remittance in the past several months is a matter of grave concern to the nation. The Finance Minister’s statement to Parliament showed the country had received Tk. 7,487 crore in remittances in the last six months of the last FY 2014-15 but it declined Tk. 7482 crore in the first six moths of the current fiscal 2015-16. The Finance Minister said manpower exports increased this time in comparison to the past. It is not clearly understood if the manpower exports has increased why remittance will come down, it raises a big question as to why it may happen. As most of our migrant workers belong to poor families in the rural areas, the decline of remittance will surely have adverse effects on the families and the rural economy with declining consumption and well-being of the people as a whole.
Remittances, sent by more than eight million Bangladeshi migrant workers abroad, plays a crucial role in the economic development of the country, helping the country to improve the poverty situation, accelerate economic development and maintain a healthy balance of payments. Bangladesh received nearly $15 billion in as remittances in the last fiscal, making it the world’s eighth largest remittance corridor. Yet the manpower sector, which is a pivotal factor to the country’s economy; is facing numerous problems including ill practices by unscrupulous recruitment agencies in one hand and lack of well-ordained government initiatives for recruitment and easy way of sending money to families. Our workers abroad may be encouraged to send more of their earnings through formal channels offering higher exchange rates and reducing gap between inter-bank and market-based exchange rates. It is important as a substantial part of remittances still come through unofficial channels where higher exchange rates will encourage reversing their routes. The banking arrangements should also be made faster and easier to reach money to the beneficiaries. Exorbitant charge of remittance transfer takes away a big chunk of money midway. In the experts’ opinion, serious government steps may allow more remittance to come through competitive banking channels and in one estimate it may save at least one billion dollar annually, which is going through private operators hands now.
As the country depends substantially on the remittances sent by its overseas workers the fall in the remittance, particularly when more workers are claimed to have gone abroad during the period deserves careful screening. What may be wrong in the process is the big question. Moreover when employment is not enough at local level, Bangladesh is eyeing on robust remittance through exporting more workers to new markets we must ensure exporting skilled and trained workers abroad to avoid stiff competition from others.
