The central bank has relaxed regulations, allowing banks to transfer up to 75 per cent of net monthly income of the expatriate employees, by converting Taka into equivalent foreign exchange, to their foreign currency (FC) accounts in line with the employers' request.
The authorised dealer (AD) banks will have to ensure that balances held in FC accounts of the eligible employers are utilised first before use of local currency - Bangladesh Taka (BDT) - fund, according to a notification, issued by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Thursday.
"We've relaxed our regulations further, allowing the banks to transfer such portion of the expatriate employees' salary to their FC accounts on the basis of their clients' (employers) request," a BB official told the FE.
Actually, the expatriate employees in the companies, which have FC accounts, will be benefited from the policy relaxation, the central banker explained.
In that case, the banks will have to ensure due diligence and routine reporting as well as instructions including verification of the authenticity of work permits are issued by the competent authorities, he added.
The central bank earlier allowed exporters to use foreign exchanges from their 'export retention quota' (ERQ) to pay monthly remuneration of foreign employees working at export-earning firms in the country.
Bangladesh has a large number of foreign nationals, mostly from India, Sri Lanka and China, working in different export-earning sectors.
Currently, foreign nationals working in Bangladesh with valid work permits are allowed to send abroad monthly remittance of up to 75 per cent of their net income.
