Remittance from Malaysia falls by $1b in FY22
The Bangladesh Bank governor has asked three banks to make mobile apps popular in the Malaysian market to bring remittances through formal channel
Remittance inflow from Malaysia dropped by $1 billion in FY22 due to higher remittance price in informal channels than that in the banking channel amid the dollar price volatility.
Expatriates living in Malaysia sent remittances to the tune of $1 billion in FY22, down from $2 billion sent in FY21, downgrading the country from the fifth largest remittance source to the eighth, according to data from the Bangladesh Bank.
In such a situation, Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder held a meeting yesterday with top officials of three banks, which have branches in Malaysia, to discuss improving their banking services to encourage migrants to send remittances through the banking channels.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The banks are City Bank, National Bank and Agrani bank, according to sources at the central bank.
At Wednesday's meeting, the central bank governor asked the three banks to develop mobile apps to make sending money easier for remitters.
He also instructed bankers to take initiatives to make their mobile apps popular in Malaysian shops and make shop owners agents of mobile financial services like the bKash agents, according to bankers who attended the meeting.
The central bank governor further instructed them to hold programmes in Malaysia to raise awareness among Bangladeshis about sending money through formal channels, according to meeting sources.
At present, only City Bank has a mobile app to bring remittances home from Malaysia, according to expatriates living in that country.
City Bank, which launched a mobile app service in October last year, currently receives $1.7 million in remittances every month through the app, according to the bank.
The bank expects that the remittance figure will rise to $5 million per month within the next few months.
Malaysia is home to around eight lakh Bangladeshis, according to an unofficial estimate.
The country suspended hiring Bangladeshi workers in September 2018 over allegations of malpractices in the recruitment process and high recruitment costs.
After a hiatus of over three years, Kuala Lumpur officially reopened its labour market to Bangladeshi workers in December 2021 for five years until December 2026.
The first batch of 53 Bangladeshi workers arrived in Kuala Lumpur on 9 August 2022 after the resumption of the recruitment process.
Around 50,000 Bangladeshi workers migrated to Malaysia in 2022, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
