Wednesday 13 February 2008

Bangladesh: Thoughts on increasing NRB remittances

Shaikh Abdul Hamid

Wage-earners abroad - send some more!
Remittances by non-resident Bangladeshis (NRB) through official channels hit $ 6.4 billion in 2007 as per the World Bank, and the caretaker government has shown keen interest in increasing that.

Right after the recent NRB conference in Dhaka interested NRBs held follow-up meetings to try to capitalise on the momentum generated. The march continues. The Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) organised a roundtable discussion on February 5 on increasing remittances from abroad.

A high-powered GOB team is expected to visit Saudi Arabia to explore the problems of Bangladeshi workers. The Daily Star published related back-to-back articles by two NRBs, Dewan Sadek Afzal ("Promoting NRB Investment" in the February 5 issue), and Halimur Rashid Khan ("Increasing Remittance from Non-Resident Bangladeshis" in the February 6 issue).

We hope that the policy prescriptions that follow from the BEI roundtable, the findings and recommendations that the GOB team brings back, and the prescriptions by others to increase NRB remittances will receive due consideration, careful evaluation, and coordinated, committed and resolute implementation by the GOB.
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