Banks in Bangladesh yesterday decided to withdraw the service charge on remittance with a view to giving a boost to the inflow of money sent by expatriate Bangladeshis. Besides, banks will also keep their overseas exchange houses open during holidays so that migrant workers can remit money smoothly.
The decision was taken at a meeting between the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association (Bafeda) and the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) at the Sonali Bank’s head office in the capital.
Md Afzal Karim, chairman of the Bafeda, an organisation that implements foreign exchange-related policies, announced the decisions at a media briefing after the meeting.
Banks usually impose service charges between $1 and $2 on remitters. ‘But from now on, such a service charge will not be imposed in order to encourage expatriates to send remittance through the banking channel,’ said Karim.
The Bafeda and the ABB also refixed the exchange rate for exporters yesterday. Under the new rate, exporters will get Tk 100 for each US dollar, compared to Tk 99.50 now.
