October fetches highest-ever remittance

Abdur Rahim Harmachi
Chief Economics Correspondent

Dhaka, Nov 1 (bdnews24.com)—Expatriate Bangladeshis remitted $1.4536 billion back home in October, a record high for a month, according to Bangladesh Bank.

The previous high was $1.22 billion in January.

The latest amount pushed up the total remittance in the first four months (July-October) of the current fiscal to cross the $5 billion mark, 25 percent more than that of the same period last year.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman told bdnews24.com: “Bangladesh didn’t receive such a big amount of remittance in one month in the past 40 years.”

He hoped the uptrend would continue in the future.

Kazi Saidur Rahman, General Manager of the central bank’s Forex Reserve and Treasury Management Department, said the expatriates set the record by remitting more before the Eid-ul-Azha celebrated on Oct 27.

They had remitted $1.0395 billion in October last year.

The higher flow of remittance also thrusts the reserve of foreign exchange of the central bank, setting another record.

The reserve amounted to $12.36 billion on Thursday, the highest in history.

The Governor said fall in payment of import bill also played a role in boosting the reserve.

On Oct 18, the reserve crossed the $12-billion mark for the first time.

Source: bdnews24