Decline in remittance flow

Measures such as reducing the hassles of sending remittances through formal channels and providing appropriate guidance could be very useful

Bangladesh is the fifth highest remittance-earning country in the world. According to a report published in this newspaper the flow of remittances, extremely vital for the country’s economy, is declining. Remittance flow—the second largest foreign exchange earner for Bangladesh—is one of Bangladesh’s key economic indicators, given its significant contribution to Bangladesh’s overall gross domestic product. The foreign exchange earned by expatriate workers not only contributes towards our current account balance, but its impact is much larger as it is invested in the economy. In fact, the robust remittance inflow is one of the main reasons that Bangladesh was not adversely affected during the global recession. 
The problem may be attributed to the dwindling income of some of the oil-exporting countries and outbreak of war in some others, the countries that together provide the largest job market for the Bangladeshi migrant workers. But it is true that, the government has failed to convince their counterparts in different countries in many cases.
There was a time when Bangladesh had to depend on foreign aid or loans to meet our revenue expenditure and buy food for people. Remittances from abroad have ensured that this dependence of aid has come down considerably. The country which is eyeing robust remittance inflow through exporting more workers to new destinations may face stiff challenges unless it ensures sending of skilled workers abroad.
Unfortunately the number of fresh migrants to overseas countries has slowed down considerably in the recent months. Because of strict immigration policies adopted by a number of countries thousands of Bangladeshis were forced to return home lacking official documentation. The labour migration scenario of Bangladesh is highly country or region specific. 
Most of the remittances come from the Middle Eastern countries. Continuing political unrest in these Middle Eastern countries have had a serious adverse effect on both migration and remittance flow for Bangladesh. The prohibition in issuance of visa in UAE, and the ongoing spat between recruiting agencies and the government is also contributing to the worsening of the situation. 
The country has a large unorganised remittance channel called Hundi, which is rife with risks. In spite of this many migrants favour this system believing it to be less of hassling. Measures such as reducing the hassles of sending remittances through formal channels and providing appropriate guidance could be very useful. The government needs to negotiate both multilaterally (at World Trade Organisation) and bilaterally for the increase of manpower export from Bangladesh.

 

Decline in remittance flow

Measures such as reducing the hassles of sending remittances through formal channels and providing appropriate guidance could be very useful

Bangladesh is the fifth highest remittance-earning country in the world. According to a report published in this newspaper the flow of remittances, extremely vital for the countrys economy, is declining. Remittance flowthe second largest foreign exchange earner for Bangladeshis one of Bangladeshs key economic indicators, given its significant contribution to Bangladeshs overall gross domestic product. The foreign exchange earned by expatriate workers not only contributes towards our current account balance, but its impact is much larger as it is invested in the economy. In fact, the robust remittance inflow is one of the main reasons that Bangladesh was not adversely affected during the global recession. The problem may be attributed to the dwindling income of some of the oil-exporting countries and outbreak of war in some others, the countries that together provide the largest job market for the Bangladeshi migrant workers. But it is true that, the government has failed to convince their counterparts in different countries in many cases. There was a time when Bangladesh had to depend on foreign aid or loans to meet our revenue expenditure and buy food for people. Remittances from abroad have ensured that this dependence of aid has come down considerably. The country which is eyeing robust remittance inflow through exporting more workers to new destinations may face stiff challenges unless it ensures sending of skilled workers abroad. Unfortunately the number of fresh migrants to overseas countries has slowed down considerably in the recent months. Because of strict immigration policies adopted by a number of countries thousands of Bangladeshis were forced to return home lacking official documentation. The labour migration scenario of Bangladesh is highly country or region specific. Most of the remittances come from the Middle Eastern countries. Continuing political unrest in these Middle Eastern countries have had a serious adverse effect on both migration and remittance flow for Bangladesh. The prohibition in issuance of visa in UAE, and the ongoing spat between recruiting agencies and the government is also contributing to the worsening of the situation. The country has a large unorganised remittance channel called Hundi, which is rife with risks. In spite of this many migrants favour this system believing it to be less of hassling. Measures such as reducing the hassles of sending remittances through formal channels and providing appropriate guidance could be very useful. The government needs to negotiate both multilaterally (at World Trade Organisation) and bilaterally for the increase of manpower export from Bangladesh.