Inward remittance to Bangladesh has exceeded the $3 billion mark for the second consecutive month, with the recently concluded month of January recording an inflow of $3.17 billion.
According to the latest report released by Bangladesh Bank on Sunday, this represents a 45 per cent growth compared to January last year, when $2.18 billion was received. This follows a strong performance in December, which saw $3.22 billion channelled through banking routes.
The current trend indicates that the previously fragile state of expatriate income has improved, as monthly remittance has consistently remained above the $2.5 billion threshold since February last year.
Specifically, March last year saw an inflow of $3.29 billion, with the following months maintaining levels of approximately $3 billion.
Central bank officials believe the recent surge is linked to the national election, during which many candidates collected crowdfunded contributions from expatriates.
While the value of the US dollar has decreased in several Asian countries and the Indian Rupee has fallen against the dollar, Bangladesh has maintained a stable exchange rate. These two factors combined to encourage expatriates to send higher volumes of foreign currency in January.
While expatriates typically send more money during periods such as Ramadan, Eid, and the Bengali New Year, the recent figures reflect a broader sustained performance in the continuity of the previous month.
