Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman on Wednesday urged the top executives of banks and financial institutions (FIs) to come up with pragmatic steps to help the repatriated Bangladeshis through banking channel. He said steps would have to be taken collectively to rehabilitate the returnees from Libya and other middle-eastern countries at home or help them seek employment in other prospective countries to ensure uninterrupted remittance inflow.
The BB governor was speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of the RPCF Dissemination Workshop at a city hotel in the morning to catalyze innovation of new remittance and transfer products, improve existing remittance infrastructure and the use of remittances.
Deputy Country Representative of UK’s DFID (Department for International Development), Diana Dalton, Bangladesh Bank executive director Dasgupta Asim Kumar and RPCF manager Anwar Uddin Chowdhury also spoke on the occasion.
Dr Atiur said the central bank has been taking a number of steps for countrywide safe and efficient payment systems to expedite faster delivery of remittances across the country.
He said the Bangladesh Bank is also working on simplifying the procedure of sending remittances both domestically and internationally.
The central bank chief said the steps are being taken through Remittance and Payments Challenge Fund (RPCF) of the Remittance and Payments Partnership (RPP) Project.
“Each inward remittance is a brick in the pillar of success of Bangladesh in fighting the global economic crisis. Bangladesh possesses a very large diaspora community and receives rather large remittance inflows.”
He said remittance transfers to Bangladesh have grown dramatically over the past two decades and have generated considerable excitement in recent years over their potential to aid growth and development of the country.
“We’ve set strategy for establishing a modern payment and settlement system infrastructure to deliver remittance to the remotest corner of rural Bangladesh - in the hands of the semi-illiterate beneficiary safely, securely and in a hassle-free manner.”
Dr Atiur also informed that they are working on mobile technology-based financial transactions for easy transactions. “We’ve already automated cheque processing systems and electronic funds transfer under the RPP project.”
He hoped that the output from RPCF’s efforts would certainly result in increased migrant-family income, higher savings, increased social security, household employment generation, and skills and technical knowledge development which will result in flourishing rural economy and local financial market in the rural areas with overall contribution to the increase of GDP.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/ Mar-24-2011