During the first 14 days of June, expatriates sent about $1.15 billion in remittances to the country through legal banking channels.
The amount stands at Tk 14,145 crore in local currency. Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and Spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan made the disclosure on Sunday.
As per Bangladesh Bank data, remittances received from June 1 to 14 were $1.149 billion or precisely at $1.149 billion. At the same period last year (June 1-14, 2024), remittances received were $1.644 billion which showed a decline by about 30.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
Stakeholders say remittance inflow usually decreases after Eid is over. This time too it was no exception. Although remittance increases during Eid, it decreases again in the following month. This is a normal trend that has been seen for many years.
In the last month of May, expatriate Bangladeshis sent remittances of US$2.97 billion to the country, which was 31.7 percent more than the same period last year. The highest remittance in a single month in the country's history was recorded in March 2025 at US$3.3 billion.
In the first month of 2024-25, that is in July, expatriates sent US$1.9138 billion, US$2.2213 billion in August, US$2.4041 billion in September, US$2.395 billion in October, US$2.22 billion in November, US$2.64 billion in December, US$2.19 billion in January, US$2.528 billion in February, US$3.29 billion in March, US$2.75 billion in April, and US$2.97 billion in May.
This means that more than two billion and three billion were sent to Bangladesh per month in the past eight months since the current interim government took office.
According to the central bank, expatriates sent a total of $28.65 billion to the country from July to May of the current fiscal year 2024-25. This is 24.5 percent more than the previous fiscal year. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, remittances came in at $23.02 billion.
Meanwhile; reserves are increasing in Bangladesh Bank coffer due to growing remittance and positive export earnings. According to latest data from Bangladesh Bank (June 15), the country's total or gross foreign exchange reserves increased to $26.15 billion.
As per International Monetary Fund (IMF) accounting method BPM-6, the reserves have increased to $20.86 billion. However, the expendable reserves are still around $16 billion.