Says BB governor
Star Business Report
Bangladesh Bank Governor Salehuddin Ahmed, among others, is seen at a function on remittances, organised by the International Organisation for Migration, in Dhaka yesterday. The government is trying to introduce mobile banking system to encourage migrants to send money through banking channels, the central bank governor said yesterday. “We are trying hard to improve the banking system to help migrant workers send remittances to their families in a fast, cheap and safe way,” said Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed while addressing an information campaign on remittances, organized by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).However, the governor asked the banks to improve its own systems to foster the foreign inflow of remittances into the country.According to IOM statistics, last year 8.2 lakh Bangladeshi workers went abroad in search of work and the number is expected to reach a million this year. IOM said Bangladesh is one of the top ten remittance earning countries in the world.Sources said BB has already drafted a policy for adopting the mobile banking system in the country. The central bank sent some of its officials to other countries where the system already exists to educate them in this regard, before formulating the draft policy, which is on final stage.The BB governor said sending remittance through informal channels, such as 'hundi' is illegal and unreliable. He said the practice has been reduced significantly due to the combined efforts of the government and the BB.Salehuddin Ahmed urged the migrant workers to invest their remittances in the productive sectors, including small and medium enterprises and micro financing.In the fiscal year 2007-08, Bangladesh earned nearly $8 billion from remittances, which was $5.98 billion in the previous year. Rabab Fatima, IOM's regional representative for South Asia, said the remittances sent by the migrant workers is ten times more than the foreign direct investment and five times more than official development assistance received.Touhid Hossain, secretary for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Abdul Main Chowdhury, secretary for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry were present at the function.
Star Business Report
Bangladesh Bank Governor Salehuddin Ahmed, among others, is seen at a function on remittances, organised by the International Organisation for Migration, in Dhaka yesterday. The government is trying to introduce mobile banking system to encourage migrants to send money through banking channels, the central bank governor said yesterday. “We are trying hard to improve the banking system to help migrant workers send remittances to their families in a fast, cheap and safe way,” said Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed while addressing an information campaign on remittances, organized by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).However, the governor asked the banks to improve its own systems to foster the foreign inflow of remittances into the country.According to IOM statistics, last year 8.2 lakh Bangladeshi workers went abroad in search of work and the number is expected to reach a million this year. IOM said Bangladesh is one of the top ten remittance earning countries in the world.Sources said BB has already drafted a policy for adopting the mobile banking system in the country. The central bank sent some of its officials to other countries where the system already exists to educate them in this regard, before formulating the draft policy, which is on final stage.The BB governor said sending remittance through informal channels, such as 'hundi' is illegal and unreliable. He said the practice has been reduced significantly due to the combined efforts of the government and the BB.Salehuddin Ahmed urged the migrant workers to invest their remittances in the productive sectors, including small and medium enterprises and micro financing.In the fiscal year 2007-08, Bangladesh earned nearly $8 billion from remittances, which was $5.98 billion in the previous year. Rabab Fatima, IOM's regional representative for South Asia, said the remittances sent by the migrant workers is ten times more than the foreign direct investment and five times more than official development assistance received.Touhid Hossain, secretary for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Abdul Main Chowdhury, secretary for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry were present at the function.
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