According to central bank records, remittances worth Tk 13.09 billion (Tk 1,309 crore) came into the country in the first seven months of this year. This is slightly more than the remittances that came into the country in the first seven months of last year. In the same period last year, remittances worth Tk 12.89 billion (Tk 1,289 crore) had come into the country. Thus, remittances may increase to a certain extent this year. However, this will not be a significant increase. Remittances this July were 5.88 percent less than last July. If this trend continues, remittances will be lower than last year.
The outbreak of Covid had a huge impact on the foreign employment sector. According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), where more than 700,000 workers went abroad last year, it has come down to 200,000 in 2020. This increased to more than 600,000 in 2021. And more than 1,135,000 workers went abroad last year. This was a record number of workers traveling abroad from the country. Earlier in 2017, 10 lakh people had gone abroad. This trend continues this year also. In the first seven months alone, 750,000 workers have gone abroad. Yet the remittance flow is slow.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Muniras Salehin, senior secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Welfare and Overseas Employment, said the Ministry of Overseas Welfare is working to create new labor markets, increase overseas employment, send as much skilled labor abroad as possible and expose workers to . In all cases this includes providing workers with three days of training before they leave the country. This has made it possible to send a record number of workers abroad. Workers are also encouraged to repatriate back home through official channels.