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Inward remittance has witnessed a downward trend amid the Eid-ul-Fitr festival, with expatriate Bangladeshis remitting $877.10 million in the first 12 days of this April.
Earlier in January, remitters sent home $915.91 million in the first 12 days of the month, according to data available with the Bangladesh Bank (BB).
Remittance receipts were down by 7.87 per cent in March than in February, when the inflows reached $2.16 billion.
In the last 12 days of April, state-owned commercial banks brought home $72.08 million in remittance, specialised banks $48.42 million, private commercial banks $753.93 million and foreign commercial banks $2.67 million.
Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC retained its top spot as the largest remittance collector, bringing in the highest amount sent home by migrant workers, disclosed the data.
The bank fetched the highest $291.63 million in remittance during the period in question.
With an eye to attracting foreign remittance, the government introduced a 2.0-per cent incentive in 2019 and later raised it to 2.5 per cent.
Now, the banks will provide up to 2.5 per cent from their own coffers. This is in addition to the government's 2.5-per cent incentive.
Remittance is the cheapest source of US dollars for Bangladesh and it is a key pillar of the national economy.