Bangladesh expatriate remittances up

Bangladesh received $418.9 million in remittances from expatriate workers in July, up 22.3 percent from a year earlier but short of $433.5 million received in June, central bank officials said on Wednesday. In 2005/06 fiscal year that ended on June 30, remittances were a record $4.81 billion, nearly 25 percent higher than the previous year.
"The robust inflow of expats' money has greatly helped to keep the foreign exchange reserves up," said a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (central bank). "The remittances also offered a significant lifeline to the national economy by lowering pressure on the balance of payments situation."
The remittances from 3 million Bangladeshis working overseas are Bangladesh's second biggest source of foreign income, trailing exports of textiles, which earn more than $7 billion annually, officials said.