Remittance income increasing from US, EU
The remittance earning will get diversified because of freelancing job in the developed countries like the US, Canada and the EU, says Bangladesh Bank's Executive Director
Bangladesh received second highest remittance from the United States in March, which showed a change in inward remittance flow.
The remittance earning has been dominated by the Middle Eastern countries since independence.
But now the situation is changing as many Bangladeshi skilled people work in the developed countries, said Md Serajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank (BB).
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"By analysing the earlier record of the BB, we found that the inward remittance flow is gradually increasing from the US and European Union, outside the Middle East," he said.
The remittance earning will get diversified because of freelancing job in the developed countries like the US, Canada and the EU, he said.
The BB's remittance update shows that Bangladesh received $308.82 million remittance from the US in March, which is highest so far in remittance from the country in a single month.
In March, Bangladesh received inward remittance of $377 million from KSA, $214.16 million – UK, $184.14 million – UAE, $144.48 million – Kuwait, $119.59 million – Qatar, $85.88 million – Italy, $81.43 million – Malaysia, $74.30 million – Oman, and $57.48 – Bahrain.
The central bank data shows that inward remittance inflow has increased from the US during the worst period of Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, there are currently 12 million Bangladeshis living in different countries of the world.
Reviewing the data of the central bank, it is seen that the expatriates in the Middle East, America and European countries are playing a major role in remittance earning of Bangladesh.
Since independence, Bangladesh has always received major share of remittances from Saudi Arabia. This was followed by the the United Arab Emirates.
The United States is now second and the United Kingdom is third.
The UAE, once second, now ranks fourth.
The largest market for Bangladeshi expatriates is Saudi Arabia with around 2.2 million Bangladeshi migrants there.
