DHAKA: Unnayan Onneshan (UO), a research organization, has observed that the remittance inflow decreased by seven percent during the period of July, 2013 to February 2014.
The low remittance inflow will adversely affect the villages of the country, the organization observed.
The UO warns of consumption cut and poverty creation in the rural economy, if the low remittance inflow continues as large amounts of money come from income of family members of the villagers’ who working in abroad.
According to the last household survey, some 17.28 percent of total income came from the remittance in the rural area in 2010.
Some $9206.55 million remittance was recorded from July to February in 2013-2014 fiscal year, a 6.93 percent decrease from $9891.95 million that of the same period in 2012-2013 fiscal, according to UO.
This data was revealed in its monthly “Bangladesh Economy Update” 2014.
The UO identified two reasons that impacts on the remittance flow–-one is low manpower export and the other is decrease in labour demand in the Middle East countries.
However, readymade garment (RMG) keeps its sole dominance over the economy that indicates an infrastructural weakness in economy, and if it continues the economy would have to face threat in the long term.
RMG earned $12233.23 million, some 81.7 percent of total export earning, during the first half of the current fiscal while RMG income was $10225.62 million, some 80.2 percent of total export, during that of first half in 2012-2013 fiscal.
In the meantime, export of frozen foods slightly increased but export of the jute and leather products decreased.
Expected growth in economy may not be occurred for the low import of capital machineries due to decreasing investment demands, lack of differentiation in export, and unsatisfactory foreign investment.
As a result, gross domestic product (GDP) growth will be lower than that of previous year, according to the UO.
The research organization recommended for reevaluation of existing trade and industry policies to overcome the existed faults.
A new ‘productiveness efficiency growth’ policy formulation is necessary, which will increase capacity through boosting the capability of productive resources and entrepreneurs’, the UO viewed.
BDST: 1615 HRS APR 26, 2014
