Remittance inflow to Bangladesh has faced significant challenges due to the current turmoil and curfew in the country, experts said.
They said that a reported appeal by some expatriates for sending remittances to the country through informal channels like hundi instead of the formal banking channel amid unrests centring on the quota reform in the government jobs would worsen the remittance inflow situation.
The government imposed a curfew starting midnight on July 19 as unrests over quota reform protests escalated.
Since July 16, more than 200 people had been killed and several thousand injured in the protests.
The government, however, on Sunday said that 147 people, including common people, students, police, and ruling Awami League activists, were killed in Dhaka and other places in violence during the quota reform protests of students across the country.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, the daily average remittance inflow, which was about $79 million in the first 18 days of July, plummeted to $18 million in July 21-28.
Bankers said that many expatriates were aggrieved by the nationwide violence, casualties and internet blackout, leading to a campaign urging people not to send remittances through the official banking channel.
This might have caused a sharp decline in remittance inflow, though the trend would become clearer in the coming days, 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.
Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, told 抖阴精品 that remittance inflow might decline due primarily to the current unrests, as people were feeling unsafe amid the violence.
He mentioned that the 鈥榖oycott鈥� campaign could have a short-term impact on remittance inflow, but the inflow was likely to recover soon as expatriates needed to send money to their families.
Mansur expressed concerns that the current violence and unrests might intensify the demand for hundi as people were worried about their security and that of their families.
He feared that these individuals might consider seeking safe zones for their families and assets abroad.
Expatriates sent only $147 million from July 21 to 28, compared with $450 million in the previous week (July 14 to 20), $608 million from July 7 to 13, and $370 million from July 1 to 6.
In the period from July 1 to 28, the total remittance plunged by 30.37 per cent to $1.65 billion compared with that of $2.37 billion in the same period in June.
Remittance inflow was $2.54 billion in the whole month of June.
An internet blackout beginning on July 18 in the country amid the unrests further halted digital and mobile financial services.
The government also declared a general holiday from July 21 to July 23, closing offices, including banks.
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.
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 with some restrictions.
The country鈥檚 foreign currency reserves, according to the International Monetary Fund guidelines, dropped to $20.46 billion on July 10.