An Enquiry into the Sluggish Growth of Workers’ Remittance Determinants in Bangladesh

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Workers’ remittance for economic growth is important variable, which is the second leading amount of capital inflows in Bangladesh. Revenues from workers’ remittance in the country exceed various types of foreign exchange inflow, particularly Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Official Development Assistant (ODA) and net earnings from exports, but workers’ remittance is one of the major sources of foreign exchange earnings and it exceeded FDI and ODA inflows to the developing countries (World Bank, 2010). Every year, about 250,000 Bangladeshis migrate abroad and about eight million people of Bangladeshi origin are living and working abroad presently. Remittance as percentage of GDP has stood well over ten percent recently. Around eight million Bangladeshi expatriates in more than 140 countries signify the strength of Bangladesh in international migration (Bangladesh Bank, 2012). According to world bank migration and remittances factbook (2011), Bangladesh is seventh position in top ten emigration countries and top ten remittance recipients in 2010 (billions). According to World Bank statistics (2010), about eight million Bangladesh’s are currently working aboard, with each migrant sending $1,672 per year on average, but in India, the average remittance per head is $4,843, where as for China it is $6,112. The reason for Bangladeshi’s low remittance per head is that the majority of Bangladeshi wage earners are unskilled labors. The skill composition of workers overseas has become skewed towards semi-skilled and unskilled workers over time. This may be due to employers in foreign countries feeling that Bangladeshi workers lack appropriate skills. We always considered total workers remittance inflows in Bangladesh, but we should be considered analyses of remittance returns per head and also considered marginal analyses that is each person how much increase of his or her remittance in each year. The purpose of research study is an enquiry into the sluggish growth of remittances determinants in ...