Remittance inflow to Bangladesh dropped in July compared with that in the previous month amid the current turmoil and curfew across the country.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, remittance inflow declined to $1.9 billion in July from $2.54 billion in June. It was $1.97 billion in July 2023.
The inflow in July was the lowest after September 2023 when it was at $1.33 billion.
The inflow in May 2024 was the highest single-month figure since July 2020 when it peaked at $2.5 billion amid the Covid pandemic.
The government imposed a curfew starting midnight July 19 amid unrests over quota reform protests in the country.
Since July 16, more than 200 people had been killed and several thousand injured in the protests.
An internet blackout beginning on July 18 in the country amid the unrests further halted digital and mobile financial services, bankers said.
Besides, aggrieved by the nationwide violence, casualties and internet blackout, a section of expatriates reportedly launched a campaign urging people not to send remittances through the official banking channel, they said.
Experts, however, said that tensions and insecurity among people might increase the demand for hundi, which could be more devastating than the 鈥榖oycott鈥� campaign.
They feared that the ongoing tensions could adversely impact exports, foreign trade and foreign direct investments, further deepening the ongoing dollar shortage.
The curfew was relaxed on July 24, allowing offices and banks to operate for a certain period in line with the easing of the curfew. All offices resumed operations on normal schedules on Wednesday.
A partial restoration of broadband internet began on the evening of July 23, with a gradual expansion of the services. Mobile internet services were restored on July 28.
The country鈥檚 foreign currency reserves, according to the International Monetary Fund guidelines, dropped to $20.48 billion on July 31.
The dollar rate on the open market, also known as the kerb market, rose by over Tk聽5 in the past four days to reach Tk 125 a dollar on Wednesday as dollar inflow was disrupted on the account of general holidays and internet shutdown across the country.
The rate in some banks also increased up to Tk 120 a dollar from Tk 118 each.
On May 8, the Bangladesh Bank devalued the local currency to Tk 117 a US dollar from Tk 110, introducing the crawling peg exchange rate system for buying and selling dollars.
Dollars became unavailable at the money exchange houses in the capital Dhaka after the Money Changers Association of Bangladesh on Wednesday evening instructed the money changers not to sell dollars more than Tk聽119 each.
The money changers stopped selling dollars as they could not sell dollars at the prescribed rate, officials of money exchange houses said.
They said that usually they got cash dollars from travellers, which became slow currently while banks were not providing dollars to them.
So, the inflow of dollars sank drastically, they said.
The remittances reached $23.9 billion in FY24, up from $21.6 billion in FY23.
