DHAKA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Millions of Bangladeshis living and working abroad in over 100 countries remitted home 1.193 billion U. S. dollars in July, the first month of the current 2012-13 fiscal year (July 2012-June 2013), a central bank official said Sunday.
Quoting provisional data, AFM Asaduzzaman, general manager of Bangladesh Bank, told Xinhua that "the flow of inward remittances surged over 16 percent year on year to 1,193.77 million U.S. dollars last month."
He said remittances, one of the key sources of foreign exchange for the impoverished South Asian nation of 152.52 million people, in July was also about 11 percent higher than June' about 1.038 billion U.S. dollars.
According to the bank, the amount of remittance from about 7 million Bangladeshis in last fiscal year stood at 13 billion U.S. dollars, over 10 percent higher than the same period a year ago.
The bank official said the inflow of remittances would further rise this month as non-resident Bangladeshis will send home more money for their relatives to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, the festival that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- a season of fasting and spiritual reflection.
Most of the remittances come from nationals living in Middle East countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, followed by the United States and Britain.
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