Remittance rises in December, record 11.25 lakh foreign jobs in 2022

Infographic: TBS

Inward remittance maintained an upward trend in December for the second month in a row in the just-ended year that saw a seesaw movement in earnings from expatriates despite a  record 11.25 lakh overseas jobs.

Remittance inflow to the country increased by 4.23% year-on-year to $1.7 billion in December 2022 although full year earnings were lower than that of a year ago, Bangladesh Bank data show.

However, the year ended with $21.29 billion sent home by workers abroad, down from $22.07 billion of the past year – a decline attributed to global economic slowdown and a surge in hundi transactions due to exchange rate mismatches. The figure is not commensurate with the whopping 82% growth in manpower export as overseas job market analysts believe it may take some more months for the newly-hired workers to be able to send money home.

The record manpower export in 2022 was due to increased demand in some major destinations and opening of some new markets, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).

Despite a surge in manpower, there still remains a serious dearth in quality migration as the number of unskilled labour migrants increased to 78.64% till November 2022 from 75.24% in the previous year.

Industry insiders have linked the rebound of overseas employment with the reopening of the Malaysian labour market and brighter Gulf economies buoyed by rising oil prices and the normalisation of the Covid situation that allowed new aspirants to go to their respective destinations.

Besides, increasing the quota for Bangladeshi migrants in all Saudi firms to 40% from 25% has contributed to this record growth, they said.

They also expect the same outflow of workers in 2023 as employers in major sourcing countries including Saudi Arabia have already shown their high demand. 

Overseas employment of Bangladeshis crossed the 10-lakh mark in 2017 but declined in the following years, bottoming at 2.17 lakh in 2020 due to the pandemic-induced restrictions.

On average, the country sent 93,750 workers per month in 2022, and the number was around 60,000-70,000 in the pre-Covid period, Bureau data shows.

In December last year, a total of 95,988 workers migrated abroad.  

Saudi Arabia, the top destination for Bangladeshi migrants, generated 56% of all overseas jobs till November last year, followed by Oman, the UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan.

"Most workers in the Middle East have been employed for cleaning, construction jobs and domestic tasks with a monthly salary of Tk25,000-30,000. In addition, some have been hired as security guards and drivers in the UAE with a monthly salary of Tk35,000-40,000," Abul Bashar, president of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), told The Business Standard.

Besides, some skilled and semi-skilled workers made their entry into different countries as plumbers, electricians or technicians of refrigerators and air conditioners, he added.

Newly opened, reopened labour markets

In 2022, recruitment of Bangladeshi nationals restarted in Malaysia, Italy, and Greece. 

After reopening its door for workers from Bangladesh in August last year following a four-year hiatus, Malaysia recruited more than 27,000 workers until November. 

Italy recruited around 6,600 Bangladeshi workers in the first 11 months of 2022.  

In February last, Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding with Greece on sending workers. According to the MoU, 4,000 Bangladeshi workers will be allowed to work in Greece legally.

Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (Boesl) has set a record by sending more than 5,500 workers to South Korea by November last year through the Korean Employment Permit System (EPS) which ensures high salaries, labour rights, and other facilities. 

A total of 103 Bangladeshis migrated to Poland till July last year. The new labour markets for Bangladeshis in Eastern Europe are Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova where there is demand for male workers as well as female workers. According to the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU), more than 10,000 Bangladeshi workers went to these countries in the last two years as workers in building construction, shipbuilding, agriculture, factories, garments, baby sitting and restaurants. In the first five months of last year, 794 Bangladeshi workers migrated to another new labour market, Albania.

Remittance inflow unmatched with high migration 

Bangladesh received $787 million lower remittance than that of the previous year despite record high migration.

Asked why remittance inflows did not go up in 2022, Tasneem Siddiqui, founding chair of RMMRU, said, "In the first year of international migration, the migrant workers cannot remit money to home. Remittance flows increase in the second year of migration."

Replying to a query as to why remittance inflow did not increase despite an increase in government incentives, she said, "A large number of the migrant workers send remittances through Islami Bank. But last year, some negative news was published about it and some other banks. As a result, migrant workers' confidence in the banks has declined.

"Migrants feel if they deposit money in the banks, they may not get it back, or the banks may go bankrupt. As a result, they send remittances through hundi or other channels."

Tasneem Siddiqui emphasised promoting the banking sector as a stable sector for migrants through various campaigns to restore their confidence.

"If the incentives under the pension scheme can be increased, the remittance inflow will rise. The incentive can be increased little by little up to 10% over several months," she added.

Sector insiders have said the inflow of remittances through the legal channels have decreased slightly after the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh and Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association fixed the exchange rate for remittance last year, while remittances through hundi have increased.

Even in their joint meeting yesterday, the two associations kept the exchange rate unchanged at Tk107 per dollar for remitters, though it revised the rate for exporters.   

The demand for hundi will not decrease if dollar smuggling through over invoicing and under-invoicing is not stopped, they observed, adding that if there is a demand for hundi dollars, the remittances will not increase much even if the dollar rate of remittances is increased.

They commented that the government and the central bank need to be stricter to increase remittances.

Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, managing director and CEO of Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited, told TBS, "The inflow of remittances had increased due to the 2.5% incentive given by the government. Inflation has increased in most countries of the world, so the amount of savings in the hands of our workers living in different countries is expected to decrease, which is one of the reasons behind the decline in remittances. But we banks are trying to increase remittances by encouraging remitters."