Bangladesh's Remittance Inflow Crosses $9.5 Billion Mark

June 29, 2009 11:56 a.m. EST

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - Remittances sent by Bangladeshis working abroad crossed the $9.50 billion mark on June 25, marking a 21 percent growth over the same period of the previous fiscal, officials said Monday.

Inflow of remittance in fiscal 2008-09 (FY09) was a continuation of the trend of last fiscal when it was recorded at $7.91 billion. The growth was 24.52 percent in FY08 over the previous fiscal.

"The amount of remittance in FY09 may reach $9.58 billion by the end of this month," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, told AHN in the capital, Dhaka, preferring anonymity, adding that the existing inflow of remittance is likely to continue in the next fiscal.

"We expect that the flow of inward remittances will positively cross $10 billion in the fiscal 2009-2010," Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Agrani Bank Limited Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed told AHN in Dhaka.

Bangladesh received at total of $9.562 billion until June 25 of this fiscal, which may reach $9.582 billion by the end of FY09 against $7.914 billion in the previous fiscal, the BB officials added.

The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $791.95 million during the period between June 1 and June 25, according to the central bank statistics, released on Monday.

The country's foreign exchange reserve stood at $7.40 billion on the day, thanks to a robust growth of remittances from the expatriate Bangladeshis, the central bank officials confirmed.