Remittance inflow jumped 25 per cent to $4,861 million during the July-April period of the current fiscal, with blue-collar workers accounting for more than half, Bangladesh Bank statistics revealed.

About 4.5 million expatriates sent this amount home during the first 10 months of the 2006-07 fiscal, surpassing the last fiscal year’s total of $4,801 million and surging foreign exchange reserves to $4,516 million on Monday. The highest amount came from

Saudi Arabia as over a million workers sent $1,312 million during July-March period.

The United Kingdom came out as the second biggest source of remittance with Bangladeshi Diaspora sending home $657 million to their relatives at home, closely followed by $656 million from the United States of America. Non-resident Bangladeshis remitted

$559 million from the United Arab Emirates and $494 million from Kuwait.

Remittance inflow increased gradually over the years due to strong monitoring system of Bangladesh Bank, quicker services provided by the local banks and stable foreign exchange rates, said a central bank official.

He said more foreign exchange came from the Asian countries with concentration of blue-collar workers.

About $2,741 million came from the Middle East and adjacent countries, the statistics revealed.

So far, the central bank gave licence to 635 exchange houses to set up offices in the foreign countries to facilitate inward remittance.

Local banks, which have either opened exchange houses abroad or developed linkages with foreign banks, have quickened delivery of money at home, now taking maximum 72 hours to reach the recipients anywhere within the country.

© The Bangladesh Journal

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