MEDIA reports said remittance flow was more than the expected level last month as migrant workers sent home 10.16 per cent more in comparison to the previous year. It can be considered as a major boost to the economy under stress from sliding exports. As per data of the Export Promotion Bureau, expatriate Bangladeshis in February sent home $1.45 billion to take the tally to $12.49 billion so far in fiscal 2019-20. Bangladesh Bank sources said the eight-month receipts were up 20.05 per cent year-on-year. It is widely believed that 2-per cent cash subsidy for remitters from this fiscal year was the main driver behind the increase of remittance flow. And the remittance will hit a milestone of $20 billion at the end of the fiscal year, if the trend continues. Last year, about $16.4 billion was sent to the country by the remitters.
Truly remittances at present has become the lifeline of the Bangladesh economy when all other sectors have tremendously failed to add some extra power to the fragile economy merged with large-scale corruption, money laundering, and an unbelievable amount of defaulted loans. Though the government likes to tell the fabricated success stories of development, the reality is that performance of all other economic indicators is highly frustrating. There is widespread apprehension that country’s balance of payments would have faced severe crisis if remittances had failed to maintain the upward trend. That means, remittance is the hard reality behind the government’s showing-off. Our non-skilled and semi-trained migrant workers are sending their hard-earned money to supply oxygen to the defected lungs of the economy, though in return they are deprived of all facilities. The pride of the government has ballooned with the fattening of the Bangladesh Bank reserves, which is now 2.565 trillion BDT.
In the corruption prone economic structure, the over-flow of remittances usually encourages the ruling elite to spend more and more in the unnecessary mega projects as money is no problem. It’s unwise to depend only on remittance flows while other sectors of the economy are grasping for breath.
