Bangladesh recorded a substantial increase in remittances, receiving $2.04 billion in April, marking a 21.3 percent rise compared to the same period last year.
According to Bangladesh Bank, from January to April this year, the country received a total of $8.31 billion from expatriates, spurred by various bank initiatives aimed at encouraging the flow of remittances.
The figures show a consistent upward trend with $2.11 billion received in January, $2.16 billion in February, $1.99 billion in March, and $2.04 billion in April. This influx has been a boon to the economy, particularly during the ongoing foreign exchange crisis.
Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur, a noted economist, told UNB that Bangladesh could further increase remittances through legal channels by offering more financial and non-financial incentives to expatriates. He highlighted the preference among remitters for using the hundi system, an illegal money transfer method, due to its higher exchange rates, which are Tk 5 to 7 more per US dollar compared to the official rates.
To counter this, Dr. Mansur proposed that the government could introduce various benefits for legal remitters, including health cards, insurance coverage, and pension schemes, to make formal channels more attractive and dissuade the use of illegal methods like hundi.