Aug 6 Bangladesh received $1.19 billion in remittances from expatriates in July, up 17.5 percent from a year earlier and the second highest monthly amount ahead of Eid festival, central bank data showed on Monday.
The remittances rose 10 percent to $12.84 billion in the financial year that ended in June from a year earlier and central bank governor Atiur Rahman was hopeful of the same pace of growth in the current fiscal year.
Bangladesh received a record monthly high of $1.2 billion from migrant workers in January.
Measures were being taken to keep the local currency rate stable against the dollar to encourage expats to send more money home, an official said.
Remittances from about eight million citizens are critical for impoverished Bangladesh and are key sources of foreign exchange alongside garments which account for 80 percent of its total export earnings of around $24 billion a year. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Anis Ahmed)
