Remittance hits five-month high

Remittance flow to Bangladesh rose to a five-month high in January as banks have made an all-out effort to mobilise US dollars from abroad to overcome the stress in the foreign exchange market. Expatriates sent home $1.95 billion last month, the highest since September when $1.53 billion flew into the country, data from the Bangladesh Bank showed. January’s receipts were nearly 15 per cent higher than December’s $1.69 billion and 14.9 per cent from $1.70 billion recorded in the same month last year. A central banker described the rising flow of remittance as a positive sign for Bangladesh, which needs a higher supply of US dollars to tackle the instability in the foreign currency market. Owing to the shortage of American greenback, the forex reserves are declining, the taka has lost its value by about 25 per cent in the past one year, and inflation has been at elevated levels for nearly a year.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/remittance-hits-five-month-high-3236836

Central bank simplifies process of receiving remittances for service providers

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has simplified the process of receiving foreign currency earned by providing services to foreign institutions, according to a circular issued by the central bank. From now on, there is no need to fill up paper forms to bring the income earned in exchange for services. It can be brought by only online declaration, said the circular issued on Wednesday. It also makes it easy to receive dollar income from freelancing and other services, reports UNB. Bangladeshi expatriates do not need to fill up or declare any forms to send income or remittances, the circular by the Foreign Exchange Policy Department of the central bank said. The instructions were sent to the Authorised Dealers (ADs) adding that transactions can be done by declaring online to bring remittances by using an ‘app’ in the Internet banking system. Later, the printed form of the electronic declaration must be signed by the customers within 30 days. After filling up the form and submitting it directly, foreign currency had to be brought, it said.

Source: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/bangladesh/central-bank-simplifies-process-of-receiving-remittances-for-service-providers-1675263726

Country’s external position improves as trade deficit narrows by 21% in H1 FY23

Bangladesh’s trade deficit narrowed by 21% in the first half of the current fiscal 2022-23 on the back of import curbs, giving the central bank great comfort in managing the country’s external position. The ease of balance of payment also helped to reduce the country’s current account deficit by 36% in the July-December period of the current fiscal year, which gives an indication that the measures the Bangladesh Bank has taken – including substantial depreciation of the taka – have started to pay off to ease pressure on the country’s external position. Meanwhile, the central bank depreciated the taka again on Wednesday by raising its dollar price by Tk1 to Tk101, aiming at narrowing the gap with market rates. On the same day, the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (Bafeda) raised the dollar exchange rates for exporters to Tk103 from Tk102 to encourage exporters to encash their proceeds. The Bangladesh Bank has also raised the interest rate on loans in foreign currency from the EDF (Export Development Fund) by 50 basis points to 4.5% with a view to reducing forex reserve expenditure, according to central bank sources.Data obtained from the central bank show that the country’s trade deficit declined to $12.30 billion in July-December of FY23 from $15.7 billion in the same period of the last year. The trade balance in the first half of the fiscal year shows that it is likely to be in line with the central bank’s monetary projection of a $20.9 billion deficit at the end of FY23.

Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/countrys-external-position-improves-trade-deficit-narrows-21-h1-fy23-578222