Staff Reporter :
Remittance inflow has declined by 13.15 per cent in May of the current fiscal year compared with the corresponding month of last year.
The expatriates sent $1.88 billion in remittances to the country, which was $2.17 billion during the same period of last fiscal.
The inflow of remittance has been shrinking since the last several months, except last April as the expatriate Bangladeshis are now sending their income through the informal channels.
The number of people, going abroad, is decreasing and money transfers through informal channels like hundi are increasing with the ease of pandemic restrictions, experts said.
Dr Ahsan H Mansur, Executive Director of Policy Research Institute (PRI), said that the number of people going abroad decreased in last few years and did not pick up substantially in the recent months.
Moreover, as the international movement has started again, the incidence of hand carry of money is increasing, he said.
The country received $2.01 billion in remittances in April, the highest amount in a single month of the current fiscal year. This means remittance fell by $125 million or 6.23 per cent in one month.
Meanwhile, the government has set a target of $26 billion for remittance inflow in the current financial year 2021-22.
However, remittances reached only $19.19 billion or 73.80 per cent of the target in the first eleven months of the current financial.
The hundi cartel had faced disruption during the height of the pandemic due to the lockdown imposed by many countries, which helped Bangladesh to manage a robust remittance.
But the hundi channel has got back its tempo, leaving an adverse impact on remittance.
Against the backdrop, the country’s foreign exchange market is now under pressure amid a dollar crunch in the banking sector.
Sector insiders said that expatriates are benefitted more by sending remittances through unauthorized channels. So, they have steered away from the hundi medium now.
If the government adjusted the dollar rate with formal channels, remittances through banks would increase further, Mansur added.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Bank has relaxed the requirement for availing 2.5 per cent cash incentive for inward remittances over Tk5 lakh.
From now on migrant workers can get the incentives without submitting any documents. Earlier remitters needed to submit remittance-related documents. This new facility will be available until further notice.
