Remittance inflow climbs 21% in November

Migrant workers sent home $1.93 billion in November, an increase of 21 percent year-on-year, as banks offer a higher rate for the US dollar to collect remittance, central bank figures showed.

The remittance inflow was $1.59 billion in the same month last year.

November's receipts, however, were 2.42 percent down from a month ago, data from the Bangladesh Bank showed.

In order to tide over the foreign exchange shortage and settle import bills, banks have raised the buying rate of the US dollars.

Some banks are offering at least Tk 5 to Tk 6 per dollar more than the permitted rate fixed by the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA) and the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB).

More than 11.35 lakh Bangladeshis left the country for jobs abroad last year, nearly double the 6.17 lakh migrant workers who flew to other countries the previous year.

Industry insiders say that the inflow has not received as much fillip as expected because of the growing use of the hundi system, an illegal cross-border transaction.