Remittance to exceed $25 billion by end of current fiscal: Finance Minister

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that he is hopeful that the country's remittance will exceed $25 billion by the end of the current fiscal, up from current $21 billion.

"During the two occasions of Eid, we hope our expatriates send huge remittances that will help exceed the last fiscal year's benchmark", he told reporters while briefing the outcomes of the consecutive meetings of the two cabinet Committees – Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase and Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Monday.

The finance minister noted that in the last fiscal 2020-21, the country's remittance reached nearly $25 billion.

He admitted that all the economic indicators of the country remained positive except the remittance.

"We're lagging behind our expectations in remittance earnings. But two Eid festivals will play a big role in boosting the remittance", he added.

Kamal also claimed that he is still hopeful that the country will achieve the 7.2% economic growth as all the sectors are performing well although the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently made a projection at 6.6% in this regard.

"The IMF and the World Bank always make conservative projections, but our projection finally sustained", he said.

The minister said the export has made 24.3% growth and by the end of the current fiscal the total export earnings will reach $47-$48 billion.

He said the country holds huge potentials to grow economically, but those potentials were not utilised in a right manner.

"In last 12 years, under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, we have been able to exploit such potential. That's why we have succeded".

Responding to a question, he said the government prefers the local companies in the contract of supply of electronic devices in the public purchase.

"We want to promote the Made in Bangladesh products in the public procurement", he said.