The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

Country received $732.98 million in remittances from expatriate workers in August, up 55.6 percent from a year earlier but down from a record high of $820.7 million in July, Bangladesh Bank said.

Remittances hit a record $7.9 billion in the 2007-08 fiscal year that ended in June, nearly a third higher than the previous fiscal year.

Booming economies in the Middle East and the Gulf region, as well as an ageing population in European countries and rising skills of Bangladeshi workers were driving demand for Bangladeshi labour, officials said.

The Bangladesh Bank expects the inflow of remittances to touch an annual $10 billion over the next year, boosting a key source of foreign exchange for the country.

Strong remittances from more than five million Bangladeshi expatriates working abroad also helped offset the impact of the trade shortfall and kept the overall balance of payments in surplus.

The Bangladesh Bank has been making vigorous efforts to encourage expatriates to send money home through legal channels, officials said.

The majority of expatriates work in the Middle East, the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

Remittances from Bangladeshi expatriates are the country's second-biggest source of foreign income after ready-made garments, which earned nearly $11 billion in the 2007-08 fiscal year.