Remittance has increased 15.24% in January compared to the previous month of December when remittance was $1.7 billion
Bangladesh has earned a remittance of whopping $1.95 billion in the first month of this year, says a Bangladesh Bank report on remittance.
The remittance sent home by expatriates amounts to about Tk21,000 crore (considering dollar rate as Tk107).
Remittance has increased 15.24% in January compared to the previous month of December when remittance was $1.7 billion.
Also, the amount of remittance in January last year was $1.7 billion. So, remittance has increased substantially.
Bank officials said many import payments are being deferred due to the dollar crisis. For this reason, the banks are buying dollars of expatriate income at a higher price than the fixed price. As a result, expatriate income increased.
If the price limit of the dollar is lifted, the crisis will abate to some extent, they opined.
In July and August of last year, more than 200 million dollars in revenue came in every month. At that time the banks brought in dollars of expatriate income at the rate of Tk120.
According to the central bank report, total remittances earned in the first 7 months (July to January) of 2022-23 financial year were $12.45 billion, which was $11.94 billion in the same period of the previous financial year.
Which means remittance has increased 4.24% or $504 million more than the previous financial year.
Since last September, the dollar price in private sector exports, imports and expatriate income has been determined by the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh Limited (ABB), and Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA).
In terms of remittance, now every dollar is priced at Tk107 and for export earnings, the dollar is priced at Tk102.
And in terms of payment of import duties, the price of the dollar has been fixed at 50 paise more than the average of remittance and export earnings.
Bangladesh Bank is constantly selling dollars from its foreign currency reserves to overcome the crisis. As a result, the reserve has now decreased to $32 billion dollars. In August 2021, reserves had crossed $48 billion.
