DHAKA, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Millions of Bangladeshis, living and working abroad, in the first five months of the current 2019-20 fiscal (July 2019-June 2020) year remitted home 7.71 billion U.S. dollars, about 23 percent higher than a year earlier, a central bank official said Sunday.
The remittance in November alone stood at 1.56 billion dollars, a rise of over 31 percent year on year, said the Bangladesh Bank official who preferred to be unnamed.
The inflow remittance is one of the key sources of foreign exchange for the impoverished nation.
Most of the remittances come from the Gulf countries, according to the official.
Bangladesh remittances hit an all-time high of 16.40 billion U.S. dollars in the past 2018-2019 fiscal year (July 2018-June 2019).
Officials said remittance has been steadily rising since the announcement of a 2.0 percent incentive on remittance receipts in June this year to encourage the expatriate Bangladeshis send home more money through formal channels.
Bangladeshi Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal recently said remittance inflow is likely to increase by at least 25 percent in the fiscal 2019-20.
The finance minister said the government is giving 2 percent cash incentive on money remitted by expatriate Bangladeshis to remove the burden of increased expenses in sending remittances and to encourage bringing in remittance through legal channels.
