Probashi Kallyan Bank will set up 13 liaison offices in different foreign missions to help increase remittance from workers abroad through the legal channel and introduce the banking services among the non-resident Bangladeshis.

Officials hoped that the remittance will increase with establishment of link offices.

The 13 link offices will be established by December this year, said CM Koyes Sami, Managing Director of Probashi Kallyan Bank (PKB).

He said through the liaison offices, they will encourage the Bangladeshi workers to send money through legal channel.

"The liaison offices will sell government sponsored wage earner development bond to the migrants," the PKB MD said and added the Bangladeshi outbound people will feel interested when they get the bond through PKB foreign offices.

"Many of the overseas workers are not familiar to the bond properly," he said.

Mr Sami said they have also planned to open exchange houses in those offices for collecting remittances with minimum service charge. "With cooperation of Bangladeshi workers we will set up such house."

For establishing the link offices, PKB has already submitted proposal to the Bangladesh Bank for permission, said the PKB chief.

He said the liaison offices will be established in the three phases.

In the first phase, the special bank will launch five offices in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Lebanon and Malaysia by June.

The PKB will set up offices in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Singapore and Korea by September and Iraq, Japan and Jordan by December. Mr Sami told the FE.

He viewed the authority should reduce service charge on remittance to inspire sending money through the official channel.

He also suggested waving service charge on a limit of remittance worth US$ 500 and sending money to the beneficiaries in a short time.

Bangladeshis working abroad sent over US$ 1.13 billion last month despite current political crisis in the Middle East and economic slowdown in the United States and Europe. The amount is up by US$ 144 million, or 14.58 per cent compared to the corresponding month last year.

With this amount, the country received a total of US$ 8.420 billion as remittances from expatriate Bangladeshis during the first eight months (July-February) of current fiscal year.

According to official figures, more than seven million Bangladeshis now work abroad and they remitted a record $11.65 billion in the last fiscal year (2010-11).

Probashi Kallyan Bank officially started operation on April 20, 2011 for providing migration loan to Bangladeshi outbound people for protecting themselves from traditional money lenders (Mahajon).

The specialised bank distributes credit at 9 per cent interest among the overseas job seekers.

The PKB provides loan amounting to Tk 84,000 for going with employment to Middle East, South-East Asian countries and Malaysia and Tk 120,000 to Europe and African countries.

Financial Express/Bangladesh/ 28th March 2012