Bangladesh Bank has asked banks to provide Tk 107 against per US dollar inward remittance. A remitter will now get Tk 107 per dollar, even if they send remittance directly through banks.Currently, remitters are getting Tk 99.5 per dollar through the banking channel. Remittance flow through banks fell drastically in September and October.
Apart from this, the banks will not charge any fee for remittance collection from now on. At the same time, in the current reality of foreign exchange reserves, banks have to open LCs with dollar resources from their own sources, Bangladesh Bank said to the commercial banks.
These instructions were given on Monday in a meeting between the central bank and the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), an association of banks’ chief executives and Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association (BAFEDA) Deputy Governor Ahmed Jamal and Kazi Sayedur Rahman were present in the meeting.
ABB Chairman and BRAC Bank Managing Director (MD) Salim RF Hossain, on behalf of the banks, BAFEDA Chairman and Sonali Bank MD Afzal Karim, Mutual Trust Bank MD Syed Mahbubur Rahman, City Bank MD Masrur Arefin and others were present.
Besides, the central bank has asked to increase the number of exchange houses outside the country to encourage remittance collection directly through banks by reducing the dependence on foreign exchange houses. In this case, the central bank will provide necessary assistance.
Banks have committed to implementing these decisions.
