The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed yesterday said that expatriate workers are now the highest foreign exchange earner for the country, not the readymade garment industry.

"Net highest foreign exchange earner is the remittance, not the RMG sector," he noted.

This is the big contribution to the country's development, he said while addressing a function launching the information campaign on remittances at a city hotel. International Organisation of Migration (IOM), DFID and the British overseas development agency, jointly organised the function.

Salehuddin pointed out that RMG sector is a huge earner of foreign exchange, but it has to pay a certain portion of earnings for opening back-to-back Letter of Credit (L/C).

He said that migrant workers are contributing immensely to foreign exchange earnings and this helped improve the economic and social status of these migrant workers and their families. It is necessary for the banking system to encourage migrant workers to use formal channels for sending remittances, the BB Governor said.

Salehuddin stressed the need for using the remittances in productive sectors and suggested that the banks should encourage the expatriate workers' families in this regard.

Commercial banks should realise that they can increase the volume of remittances by introducing advanced technology for fund transfer, especially introducing electronic and other innovative payment channels, the central bank chief said.

He said electronic payment services would reduce both the time and cost of remitting money by the migrant workers.

About the ongoing hundi business, he said if the legal channels could provide cost effective and timely services then remittances through hundi will decrease a lot.

In this connection, he mentioned that the Post Office will introduce payment of remittances through the postal system from next week.

The BB Governor said the country received an impressive amount of US$ 7.9 billion in FY 2007-08 which is US$ 2 billion more that of FY 2006-07.

Speaking on the occasion as special guest, Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain said that most of the remittances went for constructing houses, rather in savings and investment.

About the problems of expatriate workers, he said most of those originate in Bangladesh, not in the foreign lands where they work.

He pointed out that there was a time when the employers used to pay money to the recruiting agencies for sending workers.

Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Md Abdul Matin Chowdhury also attended the function as special guest.