The country witnessed a marginal decline in total remittance earnings in November this year totaling $1,930.04 million or $1.93billion compared to October's $1,977.56 million or $1.98 billion as reported by Bangladesh Bank.
State-owned banks received $144.26 million, specialized banks $53.18 million, private commercial banks $1726.68 million, and foreign banks $5.92 million during this month.
Notably, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd led the highest remittance receipt of $472.22 million, followed by Pubali Bank Ltd at $139.24 million. However, three banks-BDBL, Community Bank Ltd and Citizens Bank Ltd -recorded no remittance during this period.
A fluctuating market saw a surge in early-month remittance due to enticing incentives from banks, exceeding the government's prescribed 2.5 percent.
Bangladesh Bank intervened, urging banks to cease this practice and devalued dollar against Taka twice, impacting remittance inflow.
Despite claims of no dollar crisis, Bangladesh faces challenges, leading to an official exchange rate of Tk 109.75 per dollar for buying and Tk 110.25 for selling. Banks will maintain the 2.5 percent incentive on remittance earnings.
Export earning realization contributes to economic landscape, with BB governor Abdur Rouf Talukder expressing concern over a drop in export proceeds.
A joint decision by BAFEDA and ABB to appreciate Taka against dollar aims to counterbalance market uncertainties, but industry insiders highlight disparities between official rates and actual market transactions.
Mustafa K Mujeri, a former chief economist of the central bank, underscores the disparity, noting that market transactions do not align with the determined rates by BAFEDA-ABB.
This discord reflects the complexities and challenges faced by Bangladesh's financial landscape in navigating remittance dynamics and currency fluctuations.
