Remittance inflow to Bangladesh has maintained a record-breaking trend, staying above $2 billion for the fourth consecutive month in November, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
In November, remittance inflow reached $2.19 billion, after posting $2.39 billion in October, $2.4 billion in September, $2.22 billion in August and $1.91 billion in July.
The trend marked a significant jump, with remittance inflow for the July-November period of the 2024-25 financial year increasing by 26 per cent to $11.13 billion, compared with that of $8.88 billion in the same period of the previous financial year.
Experts attributed this surge to an increased use of official channels, especially state-owned banks, by expatriates in sending money to the country after a major political shift in Bangladesh on August 5.
The new government鈥檚 efforts to stabilise the financial sector have fostered the expatriates鈥� trust in state-run institutions, they said.
Bankers noted that many remitters had shifted away from private banks due to concerns over liquidity challenges and irregularities that plagued several private institutions during the ousted Awami League regime.
This has driven remitters to seek safer options, bolstering state-run banks鈥� share in remittance handling, they said.
In November, the state-owned banks accounted for an impressive 44 per cent of the total remittances, processing $969 million.
Their share was 30 per cent in September and 35 per cent in October.
Islami Bank Bangladesh, however, led with remittance receipts of $360 million in November, followed by Agrani Bank with $288 million, Janata Bank with $264 million, BRAC Bank with $187 million, Rupali Bank with $153 million, Bangladesh Krishi Bank with $145 million and Sonali Bank with $117 million.
Considering the government鈥檚 incentive alongside the dollar rate of Tk聽120 in the formal channel, expatriates found it more lucrative through formal channels than the informal ones as the dollar price on the kerb market was about Tk聽121 each.
The interbank dollar rate increased to Tk 120 each after a rise of Tk 7 on May 8.
The high dollar rates attracted expatriates to use formal channels for money transfers, avoiding illegal channels like hundi, bankers said.
The country鈥檚 foreign currency reserve, according to the International Monetary Fund guidelines, dropped to $18.73 billion on November 28.
The remittance inflow reached $23.9 billion in FY24, up from $21.6 billion in FY23.