The flow of inward remittance in Bangladesh touched nearly 3 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, marking a 23.75 percent growth over the same period of the previous fiscal year.

According to the provisional estimates of the Bangladesh Bank ( BB), the central bank, the country received 2.99 billion dollars in the form of remittances during the July-February period of the current fiscal year (July 2005-June 2006) against 2.42 billion dollars in the period of last fiscal year, local daily The Financial Express reported Wednesday.

The remittance earnings during the period under report of the current fiscal year came as a continuation of the last fiscal year 's trend and record inflow of 3.86 billion dollars. The growth in fiscal year 2004-05 was 14.49 percent over the previous one.

The country's foreign exchange reserve stood at 3.09 billion dollars Tuesday, thanks to a robust growth of remittances from Bangladeshis working abroad, the daily quoted official sources as saying.

Remittances by the Bangladeshi expatriates were estimated at 428 million dollars in February, a record inflow in the history of the country, sources in the central bank said.

"We are continuously pursuing all the scheduled banks to help augment the flow of remittances to meet their internal demands," a BB senior official was quoted as saying.

He also said the flow of remittance may increase further in the current month.

Source: Xinhua