Incentives and facilitation key to boosting remittances: Experts
Migrants would be more inclined to send remittances through formal channels if they are provided with adequate facilitation and additional incentives, experts and stakeholders said at a seminar on Thursday.
During the event titled "Remittance Inflow in Bangladesh: Opportunities, Challenges, and Potential Solutions," Tasneem Siddiqui, the founding chair of the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU), highlighted the challenges faced by migrants and their families.
She emphasised that these individuals, who bear the costs of their household migration projects, should not have to endure exploitation and cheating both at home and abroad, resulting in further financial losses due to exchange rate differences.
Tasneem also mentioned that despite the legal implications, many migrants and their families resort to using the hundi channel for smooth resource transactions.
She proposed a temporary increase in the current incentives of 2.5% solely for labour migrants to offset the exchange rate differences.
Expatriate Welfare Minister Imran Ahmed, and Secretary Ahmed Munirus Saleheen also supported the idea of increasing incentives for remitters during the event.
Imran Ahmed expressed concern over the limited increase in remittances despite approximately 11-12 lakh workers going abroad in fiscal year 2021-22.
He highlighted the need for identifying any existing loopholes and exploring ways to reduce black money. He stressed that providing more benefits to remitters and simplifying the remittance process could attract higher remittance flows.
He also mentioned the grant of mobile banking licences, suggesting that an open market with more licences could be created to facilitate remittances.
However, Dr Ahsan H Mansur, the executive director of the Policy Research Institute, held a different perspective.
He believed that increasing or maintaining incentives would not yield any benefits, as it would be challenging to compete with the hundi system.
Mansur emphasised the importance of reducing high migration costs instead.
The noted economist also mentioned that many expatriate Bangladeshis who are approaching retirement age possess significant savings. He advocated for creating an environment that encourages them to return to the country, as it would result in a substantial increase in remittances.
Essa Yousef Essa Alduhailan, the Saudi envoy in Dhaka; Md Shahidul Alam, director general of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET); Dr Md Habibur Rahman, chief economist of the Bangladesh Bank; and MS Siddiqui, adviser of the Bangladesh Competition Commission, among others, also spoke at the seminar, moderated by Masud A Khan, chairman of the Better Bangladesh Foundation (BBF).