The country received $ 1,087.19 million in remittance during the month of May this year from wage earners abroad with the highest mount of $ 256.56 million coming from Saudi Arabia. The wage earners remittance inflow during the July-May period of the outgoing fiscal year (2012-13) amounted to $ 13,402.90 million, according to the latest data of the Bangladesh Bank. The remittance inflow in April was a bit higher totalling $ 1,194.40 million.
The central bank data also showed that in May, the 2nd highest $ 212.78 million came from the UAE followed by $ 148.06 million from the USA, $ 93.36 million from Kuwait, $ 84.51 million from Malaysia, $ 63.55 million from the UK, $ 49.36 million from Oman, $ 38.37 million from Singapore and $ 28.01 million from Bahrain.
According to Bangladesh Bank officials, the higher inflow of remittance is important as it eases pressures on the balance of payments and curbs volatility in the exchange rate.
Bangladesh sent 6.07 lakh workers abroad in 2012, up from 5.68 lakh the year before, according to state-run Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
Currently, more than 80 lakh Bangladeshis work abroad. Remittance receipts totalled $ 12,843.42 million in fiscal 2011-12, up from $ 11,650.32 million in the previous year. Remittance inflow in fiscal year 2009-10 totaled $ 10,987.40 million up from $ 9,689.26 million in fiscal year 2008-09. (Source: UNB)
