Home
+
Published : 12 May 2025, 10:31 PM
Remittances have exceeded the $25 billion mark by the end of the current 2024-25 financial year as the inflows have been positive for nine consecutive months.
The remittance inflows have reached a record $25.46 billion from the current fiscal year’s July to May 11 period, Bangladesh Bank spokesman Arif Hossain Khan told journalists on Monday.
Earlier, the highest amount of $24.77 billion came to the country in the fiscal year 2020-21.
Arif said remittances stood at $25.46 billion as of May 11 of the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Remittance inflows in the previous fiscal year from July to May 11 amounted to $19.93 billion. That is, the flow of remittance has increased by 27.70 percent in the same period of the current fiscal year.
Bangladesh Bank and private bank officials said the remittance flows have been on a positive trend for the past nine months. Especially after the change of government, the informal Hundi transactions have declined.
The treasury head of a private bank said many of the Hundi traders are behind bars now while many are in hiding.
Therefore, the dollar price gap between the Hundi and the banking channel is low. Remittances are coming more to the banking channel as the dollar price is stable.
Remittances reached $3 billion in just-ended April, the second highest on record. The third highest remittance arrived in December 2024; $2.64 billion.
Earlier in March during the Eid-ul-Fitr, the expatriate Bangladeshis sent $3.29 billion in remittances, the highest ever for a single month.
The upward trend has led to more than $2 billion in remittance for nine consecutive months. This brings the total remittance in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year to $24.54 billion. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, expatriates sent $19.12 billion.
Arif said the expatriates had sent $922 million in remittances in the first 11 days of the current month.
At the end of January this year, the dollar price rose to Tk 128. The banks also bought remittances at the rate of Tk 126 due to the increase in demand, according to media reports.
At the end of January, Bangladesh Bank fixed the maximum remittance rate at Tk 122. However, banks are allowed to buy and sell dollars at a higher price up to Tk 1.
Bankers say the higher dollar price has had a positive impact on remittances.
