STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Remittance hit a nine-month high of $3.17 billion in January ahead of Ramadan and the national election scheduled.

January’s receipts were 45 percent higher than a year earlier, according to data from the central bank.

Remittances generally increase in January, the first month of the year, but this year the inflow has risen due to multiple reasons, said Mirza Elias Uddin Ahmed, managing director of Jamuna Bank.

Typically, remitters send more money to their relatives ahead of Ramadan, which is set to start this month, and Eid-ul-Fitr.

The election is another factor behind the growing trend of remittance inflows, he added.

January’s inflows take the receipts in the first seven months of the fiscal year to $19.44 billion, up 21.8 percent year-on-year.

Due to the rising trend of remittances, the country’s foreign exchange market is now stable, Ahmed said, adding that the exchange rate is stable, luring in remitters to send money through the banking channels.

Not only in January, remittance inflows have been growing since the fall of the previous government in August 2024.

Previously, the demand for hundi was on the rise amid reports of large sums of money being siphoned abroad. That has stopped under the interim government.

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