Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Chinese airlines operating in Bangladesh are reportedly facing complexities in remitting earnings to their headquarters due to "non-approval" from the central bank, officials have said.
One of the airliners alone has over $2.5 million in earnings stuck. The company is "losing its income due to fluctuation in foreign currency exchange rate," it said.
The Chinese Embassy in Dhaka in a recent letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) made a request to coordinate the issue with the central bank so that the airlines can remit their earnings smoothly. Later, the MoFA has sought the finance ministry's intervention to resolve the problem.
The embassy in the letter mentioned that Chinese airlines have constantly increased passenger and cargo capacity as well as flight frequency to facilitate people-to-people exchanges between Bangladesh and China.
However, the Bangladeshi Branch Offices of China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, two of the largest airlines of China, have been unable to obtain PFA (post facto approval) from the Bangladesh Bank since February and March, preventing them from remitting their surplus earnings to their headquarters, it said.
The embassy has sought measures to improve the "efficiency of the repatriation of surplus earnings and approve PFA" for the branches of China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines and other Chinese airlines, including Air China and Cathy Pacific Airways.
The embassy also forwarded letters from China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, a letter from International Airlines Travel Association and a letter from Board of Airlines Representatives Bangladesh to the Bangladesh Bank, where they stated about the complexities in remitting earnings back home.
In its letter, the China Eastern Airlines Co Ltd mentioned that it has been operating in Bangladesh since 2005 and had consistently received approval to remit its surplus earnings to its headquarters in China until March 2024.
"However, the Bangladesh Bank has neither provided PFA (post facto approval) nor permitted the Branch Office to proceed further with outward remittance since October 2024 until now, although we have submitted all the documents for issuing PFA," it said.
As a result, over $2.5 million of earnings of the Branch Office remain stuck in a local bank, which has impacted negatively both its headquarters in China and Branch Office in Bangladesh.
Earlier, the International Airlines Travel Association (IATA) and Board of Airlines Representatives Bangladesh separately wrote letters regarding the same issue to the Bangladesh Bank in July 2024 and May 2025 respectively, it mentioned.
When contacted, a senior finance division official acknowledged that the problem has persisted for a long period due to the dearth of required foreign currencies. "Now the shortage of foreign currencies is easing gradually and the central bank has been asked to allow remitting earnings by the airliners," added the official.
syful-islam@outlook.com