Bangladesh’s remittance inflows rise 13% to nearly $10bn by Oct 13

Bangladesh has raked in nearly $10 billion in remittances in just over three months of the ongoing fiscal year, marking a rise of almost 13 percent from the same period last year.

Bangladesh Bank data show that expatriates sent $1.4 billion home in the first 13 days of October, up 10.6 percent from $1.27 billion in the same period last year.

From Jul 1 to Oct 13, remittances totalled $9.997 billion, compared with $8.856 billion in the corresponding period of fiscal 2025-26.

September brought in $2.76 billion, up 3 percent year-on-year. In August, inflows reached $2.97 billion, a rise of 22.5 percent, while July recorded $2.86 billion, up 15.4 percent.

Remittances exceeded $3 billion a month for six consecutive months from December to May last fiscal year, an unprecedented run.

The highest monthly inflow was $3.75 billion in March, followed by $3.44 billion in May and $3.22 billion in December.

For the full 2025-26 fiscal year, expatriate Bangladeshis sent a record $35.59 billion, up 17.34 percent from the previous year. The monthly average stood at $2.96 billion.

The steady inflow has also helped bolster foreign exchange reserves. At the close of Wednesday, reserves stood at $31.38 billion under the IMF’s BPM6 accounting method and $36.19 billion in gross terms.

The central bank considers BPM6 reserves immediately usable. Bangladesh spent $5.76 billion on merchandise imports in August, meaning its current usable reserves could cover about five and a half months of imports.

International standards recommend reserves sufficient to cover at least three months of imports.