Bangladesh's inward remittances rise 17% in December
Bangladesh has maintained the upward trajectory of remittance inflows, raking in nearly 1.99 billion US dollar in December, a year-on-year increase of 17.07 percent. It was the highest in a single month since the start of the financial year in June.
Comparatively, December 2022 witnessed remittances totaling nearly $1.7 billion, indicating a notable increase in the remittance flow.
As reported by Bangladesh Bank in their latest update on Tuesday, the country has accumulated a sum of 10.79 billion dollar in remittances during the first half of the 2023-24 fiscal year. This reflects a rise of $305 million, equivalent to a 2.9 percent escalation from the $10.49 billion received during the same period in the preceding fiscal year of 2022-23.
At the outset of 2023, Bangladesh observed an uptick in remittance inflows, based on data from the central bank. However, these figures experienced a decline in February, oscillating in the subsequent months until stabilizing the foreign exchange situation towards the culmination of the 2022-23 fiscal year. Consequently, Bangladesh concluded the year with total remittances reaching 21.61 billion dollar, reflecting a 2.75 percent increase compared to the previous year.
This positive trend seems to have persisted into the current fiscal year. In a bid to incentivize expatriate workers to channel their remittances through official channels, the Bangladesh government raised the cash incentive rate from 2 percent to 2.5 percent. Subsequently, scheduled banks commenced offering incentives up to 2.5 percent, further encouraging the flow of remittances through official channels.
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