Remittance inflow has soared by 29.47 per cent in July compared with that in the same month in the previous year.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, remittance inflow surged to $2.47 billion in July from 1.91 billion in the same month in 2024.
Remittance inflow crossed the $30 billion mark for the first time in a single fiscal year, reaching $30.32 billion in FY2024鈥�25. It marked a 26.8-per cent increase from $23.91 billion of FY24.
The inflow was $2.8 billion in June, $2.96 billion in May and $2.75 billion in April and $3.29 billion in March this year.
The sharp increase in March-June has been largely attributed to the Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha festival, a time when expatriates traditionally send additional funds to support their families back home.
Monthly remittance inflows remained consistently above $2 billion from August 2024 through July 2025.
Bankers attributed the growth to a reduced rate gap between official channels and the informal hundi market.
Previously, a substantial difference between open market and interbank dollar rates prompted many migrants to use informal channels.
The interbank exchange rate rose to Tk聽123 a US dollar, up from Tk 110 in December 2023 and significantly higher than Tk聽106 in June 2023 and Tk 93.45 in June 2022.
The steady increase in official rates has made banking channels more attractive to remitters, particularly when combined with the government鈥檚 incentive package.
Since January 2022, the government has offered a 2.5 per cent cash incentive on remittances sent through formal channels, up from the previous 2 per cent.
After the political shift in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, remittance inflow through formal channel surged significantly.
Another crucial contributor has been the tightening of regulatory oversight on money laundering and illegal transactions.
The country鈥檚 foreign currency reserve, according to the International Monetary Fund guidelines, increased to near $24.77 billion on July 31.
This improvement in reserve position offers the central bank some breathing space in managing currency volatility and external debt obligations.
In July, six state-owned banks received $548 million in inward remittance, two specialised banks received $229 million, and 43 private commercial banks received $1,690 million while nine foreign commercial banks received $11.3 million, according to the BB data.
Of the banks, Islami Bank Bangladesh received the highest, $533.7 million, followed by Agrani Bank $246 million, Bangladesh Krishi Bank $229 million, BRAC Bank $178 million, Janata Bank $134.77 million, Trust Bank $121 million and Dhaka Bank $100 million.
Bangladesh鈥檚 trade deficit, although still large, also showed slight improvement in July-June.
The gap narrowed to $20.5 billion in FY25, compared with $22.4 billion a year earlier.
