Despite the severe global economic disruption due to coronavirus outbreak, Bangladeshi expatriates continued to send remittances at home. The migrant workers have been sending money through different channels including banks, mobile banking and NGOs. Expatriates have sent $442 million in the first sixteen days in the current month in 2020, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
Market analysts said that expatriates have continued to send money at home to fulfill their family expenses as many countries have not yet been locked down for coronavirus. On the other hand, many expatriates took loans to send money at home where they did not work for maintaining lockdown due to coronavirus epidemic, they added.
Islami Bank deputy managing director, Abu Reza Mohammad Yahia said, “The remittance is known as the best indicator of the economy of Bangladesh, but expatriate income has decreased due to corona.” “Expatriates in the Middle East are still sending their income to support their families at home,” he said adding that it is uncertain how long they can continue this.
“We have continued to distribute remittances through branches and agents,” he informed. Economists said that the coronavirus that has already emerged as a major threat to the world economic is likely to affect the country’s remittance inflow in the country. They said, this deadly virus has spread to different countries of the world including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Italy, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, USA and UAE.
As a result, many expatriates from these countries have returned to Bangladesh which may create a negative situation in the flow of remittance, they added. On the other hand, some expatriates have faced various difficulties including fund crisis as most of the countries now under lockdown to fight against Coronavirus, they informed.
In this regards, the World Bank has recently published a report titled "COVID-19 Crisis Through a Migration Lens," and predicted that, “The remittance flow to Bangladesh is projected to decline by 22 percent due to the economic crisis induced by Covid-19 pandemic and shutdown.
The WB report also said that remittance could come down to $14 billion in 2020 in Bangladesh, which was $18.30 billion in 2019. “The projected fall, which would be the sharpest decline in recent history, is largely due to a fall in the wages and employment of migrant workers, who tend to be more vulnerable to loss of employment and wages during an economic crisis in a host country,” WB said.
The WB also warned that not only Bangladesh, but all the countries around the world will be hit by the deceleration in remittances. Remittances to South Asia are projected to decline by 22 percent to $109 billion in 2020, following the growth of 6.1 percent in 2019 while the global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 percent, the report said.
It also said that the remittances to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by 19.7 percent. Eminent economist Zahid Hussain told Bangladesh post, “The outbreak of the Coronavirus in the world has dealt a heavy blow to the global economy, which may be affected on remittance in Bangladesh.”
Bangladesh expatriates have faced many challenges abroad as Coronavirus has broken down all activities of the world, he added. He mentioned most of the unskilled workers of Bangladesh who work in the middle-eastern countries feared to lose their jobs as many companies have temporary closed while many small businessmen have passed critical time following coronavirus scare.
Many expatriates have returned to Bangladesh side by side some new visa holders cannot go abroad for locking down most countries which may create a negative situation in the flow of remittance, Hussain mentioned. This inflow increased by 16.14 percent during the time comparing the same period of time last year, which was $11.86 billion, according to Bangladesh bank.
Market analysts said, the remittance inflow has mainly increased for two major reasons including strong dollar rate against taka as well as providing 2 percent cash incentive by the government to remitters. Bangladeshi expatriates sent home $1.60 billion in July, $1.44 billion in August, $1.48 billion in September, $1.64 billion in October, $1.55 billion in November and $1.69 billion in December in 2019 as well as $1.64 billion in January, $1.45 billion in February and $1.28 billion in March in 2020 respectively.
In the yearly basis, remittance came at $11.65 billion in FY11, $12.84 billion in FY12, $14.46 billion in FY13, $14.23 billion in FY14, $15.31 billion in FY15, $14.93 billion in FY16, $12.77 billion in FY17, $14.98 billion in FY18 and $$16.42 billion in FY19 respectively.
