Bangladesh Bank awarded 31 non-resident Bangladeshis for sending home the highest amount of remittance and for investing in bonds in 2014.
The central bank also gave awards to two exchange houses for their contributions to increase in remittance inflow to the country by providing NRBs with necessary services for sending their earnings.
BB Governor Atiur Rahman handed over crests and certificates of the Bangladesh Bank Remittance Award at a function in Bangladesh Bank Training Academy in the capital.
The central bank Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury presided over the award giving ceremony.
Bangladesh’s economy showed stability despite global economic recession and domestic problems and the credit goes to the non-Resident Bangladeshis and expatriates for sending their earnings home, said the governor.
To recognise their contributions and to encourage sending money through banking channel instead of “Hundi”, the award is given to them, he added.
Atiur emphasised skill development of workers as remittance mostly come from lower-income expatriates, who are basically unskilled.
“At present, we cannot utilise our higher educated and skilled manpower and they are earning a huge amount of money, staying abroad.”
Being trained in several subjects, women are also going abroad and helping increase remittance flow, he said.
Sound remittance will help Bangladesh reduce poverty and generate employment as the money is being invested in farming, fishery, poultry and small and cottage industry, added the governor.
Currently, remittance contributes 6% to the country’s GDP and over 60% of foreign exchange are from remittance.
The governor talked about the central bank’s measures to ease the process and lower the cost of remitting money from overseas to Bangladesh and assured that BB would continue these efforts in future.
He thanked the NRBs, banks and financial institutions to help increase remittance inflow to the country, which resulted in the record of $25 billion foreign exchange reserves, well enough to meet the country’s seven months import demand.
Last year, BB awarded 24 NRBs, of them 20 were awarded as the highest remittance senders while the rest four got the award for investing in bonds.
