Bangladesh Remittances Increase 31 Percent

June 3, 2008 12:14 p.m. EST

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - Remittances from expatriate Bangladeshis exceeded $7 billion in the first eleven months of this fiscal year, a 31 percent jump compared to last year.

Bangladesh received $7.1 billion during the July-May period offiscal 2007 to 2008 compared with $5.4 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to central bank statistics.

In May Bangladeshi nationals working abroad sent back an estimated $732 million, a drop of $49 million from April's $781 million.

More than 295,000 Bangladeshis found jobs in over 100 countries during the January-April period, up from 192,725 in the same period of the last year, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) statistics.

The central bank of Bangladesh has already enacted a series of anti-money laundering laws and simplified money exchange rules to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis to avoid the illegal hundi channel.

It has also allowed the commercial banks to partner with the non-governmental organizations (NGO) having branches all over the country for disbursement of remittances, particularly in the rural areas.