Remittance inflow to Bangladesh from seven top countries dropped in the July-December period of the current fiscal year compared with that of the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year. According to Bangladesh Bank, the highest 54.52 per cent remittances declined from Malaysia, the second highest 44.73 per cent from Oman and the third highest 41.72 per cent from Singapore. The Covid-19 pandemic and fewer recruitments might have contributed to the decline in remittance earnings from the countries.
Remittance inflow also declined from UAE 40.63 per cent, KSA 20.66 per cent, the UK 13.68 per cent, and from Kuwait was 10.56 per cent in the same period. The resumption of trade and economic activities also played a role in the decline in remittance inflow from the countries as it reactivated the Hundi market.
Malaysia kept recruitment of workers from Bangladesh halted for more than three years. Allegations of malpractice in the recruitment process and high recruitment costs prompted the Malaysian government to suspend recruiting workers from Bangladesh in September 2018. Employment in Malaysia from Bangladesh was 175,927 in 2018. The job opportunity for Bangladeshi workers was also limited between 2009 and 2014.
To restore the employment opportunity in Malaysia, the government in December signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Bangladeshi workers’ employment in Oman has also been on the decline after 2016. After the pandemic outbreak, employment in Singapore was 10,085 in 2020 and 27,875 in 2021 due to the country’s strict measures to contain the spread of coronavirus. Recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait reached an all-time high in 2017. After that employment in the country declined gradually with the number dropping to 12,299 in 2019 and tumbling to 1,848 in 2021. In terms of value, the highest $633.77 million remittances dropped from KSA, the biggest remittance source for Bangladesh.
Amid the decline in the inflow of remittance, the government increased cash incentive for remittance by 0.5 per cent from 2 per cent. The government should be worried. Human trading is our major source of foreign exchange earnings and a matter of pride for the government.
A government of any independent country accepts job creation for every citizen as a big responsibility. It is ignominious that our young people have to leave family and relations to go abroad to earn money in slavery situation. The looters of public money buy palatial buildings in foreign countries to live in maximum luxury.
