Staff Reporter :
The government has been trying to inject remittances into the foreign reserve to make it healthy through legal channels, but the banking channels are failing to draw the cash flow through proper ways.
In the first 15 days of the current month, only 73.99 crore dollars in remittances has arrived in the country.
On a daily basis, it stands at 4.93 crore dollars. If this trend continues, the total remittances for the month are expected to be 14.8 crore dollars, which is nearly 11 crore dollars less than the previous month, the Central Bank’s recent report said on Sunday.
Upon analysis, it is seen that out of the remittances that have arrived in the first 15 days of the month, 6.64 crore dollars came through state-owned banks, 65.97 crore dollars through private banks, 1.98 crore dollars through a specialised bank, and 29.90 crore dollars through foreign banks.
In the first month of the fiscal year 2023-24, remittances amounted to 197.31 crore dollars, and in August, it was 159.94 crore dollars. Remittances have decreased by 37.37 crore dollars in just one month.
In the outgoing FY2022-23, the total remittances were 2161.7 crore dollars. In the previous fiscal year 2021-22, remittances amounted to 2103.17 crore dollars.
The highest-ever remittance inflow occurred in the fiscal year 2020-21 when it reached 2477.77 crore dollars.
Meanwhile, the country’s actual reserve now stands at $21.70 billion. In the beginning of the current month, the current reserve was $23.18 billion on September 5 after paying the import bill of Asian Clearing Union (ACU) for the month July-August, which was $1.31 billion. However, as per the Bangladesh Bank, the current reserve is $27.63 billon.
Meanwhile, as of now, the exchange rate for remittances and export earnings has been fixed at a single rate.
From 1 September, exporters are receiving Tk 109.50 for every US dollar, which was previously Tk108.50. The buying rate for foreign exchange in imports will be Tk 110. Previously, it was Tk 109.50. As per the latest data, the inter-bank dollar exchange rate is Tk110.
