B Mirror Report: Remittance inflows to the nation have surged in the two months leading up to the election, and the pattern has persisted into February. Just the first four days of this month have seen the receipt of remittances of USD 506 million, or BDT 61.73 billion.
During the first four days of February last year, remittances totaled USD 422 million. Accordingly, remittance inflows in the first four days of the current month have increased by 19.8 percent. The updated data on remittance inflows were released by Bangladesh Bank.
In January, the first month of the current year, remittances amounted to USD 3.17 billion. In the preceding month of December, the country received USD 3.22 billion in remittances. In the five months before that, remittance inflows remained below USD 3 billion. Among those months, November recorded the highest inflow at USD 2.89 billion.
In July and August, remittances stood at USD 2.48 billion and USD 2.42 billion respectively. The figure rose slightly to USD 2.69 billion in September before declining to USD 2.56 billion in the following month.
Several bank officials said that remittance inflows usually rise ahead of the two Eid festivals each year. At present, however, the increase is largely driven by the upcoming election. Remittances are coming in to meet election-related expenses of various candidates. Countries with larger Bangladeshi expatriate populations are seeing higher remittance inflows. Funds are also being raised abroad for many candidates and sent to the country in the name of remittances. Officials believe this trend will continue until the election.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, total remittance inflows in 2025 amounted to USD 32.82 billion, which is almost equal to the country’s current foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank.
As remittance inflows remained strong throughout 2025, there was no significant dollar shortage. To keep the dollar market stable, Bangladesh Bank purchased dollars from various banks throughout the year, resulting in an increase in foreign exchange reserves.
