Bangladeshi Workers Send Home Record $13 Billion
11 years, 9 months ago - July 07, 2012
Bangladeshi migrant workers sent home a record $12.85 billion in the fiscal year ended in June as overseas jobs soared on the back of new opportunities in the Middle East, officials said Wednesday.
The figure was a 10.26 % rise from the amount remitted by Bangladesh’s eight million-plus migrants in the previous fiscal year, central bank executive director M. Ahsanullah told AFP.
Ahsanullah said the much-needed foreign exchange, which accounts for more than 10 % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), eased pressure on the nation’s balance of payment and bolstered the local taka against the US dollar. The taka lost around 15 % against the dollar since December last year after a balance of payment crisis that prompted the government to seek a $1 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund in April.
Officials said a sharp rise in overseas jobs, helped raise remittances to a record figure.
Some 374,837 Bangladeshis flew abroad to work mostly in the manufacturing, construction, farm and service sectors in the six months to June this year, said the Bureau of Manpower and Employment Training.
