Speakers said on Wednesday that developing convenient digital infrastructure is very vital to attract more remittance through legal channels for sustainable foreign exchange reserves.
They made the statement in a discussion on ‘Remittance through the legal channel: Prospects of digital platforms’ organised by the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) at its auditorium in the capital on Wednesday.
Planning Minister MA Mannan was the chief guest on the occasion. Economists, bankers and experts made various recommendations for a better strategy to attract more remittance amid concern over dwindling stock of foreign currency.
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Mannan said that the people in the country do not show much interest to go to banks for transactions when they receive remittance from their family members working abroad because of social and psychological factors.
Rather, they choose illegal channels to receive remittance as a quick and comfortable remedy.
He said that the government has taken initiatives for developing digital infrastructure to bridge the gap between the earners and the receivers, but it often gets protracted to reform the sector.
He also said that transactions with foreign countries are closed three days a week on the banking channels. Because of this, many people are choosing hundi as a convenient alternative, he said.
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“The government wants to break these traditions and start a trend. The Ministry of Finance and the Bangladesh Bank are working on this,” he said.
Policy Research Institute (PRI) Executive Director Ahsan H. Mansur said the exchange rate of the dollar needs to be stable and balanced to increase remittances through legal channels.
“Migrant workers are more inclined to send remittances through hundi when the difference of dollar exchange rate higher in illegal channels than the legitimate way,” he said.
Managing Director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited Mohammed Monirul Moula said if the problem in sending money to the relatives of expatriates in the country is removed, it will be easier to deal with the existing foreign exchange and reserves crisis.
“If remittances can be sent through digital mode, it will be possible to meet the foreign exchange deficit in the next two to three months,” he said.
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Professor of the economics department of Dhaka University and chairman of SANEM Dr. Bazlul H Khandkar presented a keynote paper on the topic.
Chairman Policy Exchange of Bangladesh Masrur Riaz, Sharmin Nilormi, professor of economics, Jahangirnagar University, former executive director of Bangladesh Bank and former deputy head of BFIU Iskandar Mia, BKash Chief External and Corporate Affairs Officer Major General (retd) Sheikh Md. Monirul Islam, and economist Khondker Shakhawat Ali, among others, spoke at the function.