Bangladesh's inward remittances might fall by around 22 per cent in 2020 following the ongoing global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Bank (WB).
The volume of Bangladesh's inward remittances is likely to reach US$ 14 billion at the end of 2020, compared to over $18 billion in 2019, WB said in its report on 'COVID-19 Crisis Through a Migration Lens' on Wednesday.
"In Bangladesh, remittances are projected at $14 billion for 2020, a likely fall of about 22 per cent," the WB report revealed.
Remittances to South Asia are also projected to decline by 22 per cent to $109 billion in 2020, following the growth of 6.1 per cent in 2019, according to the report.
The deceleration in remittances to the South Asian region in 2020 is driven by the global economic slowdown due to the coronavirus outbreak as well as oil price declines, it mentioned.
The coronavirus-related global slowdown and travel restrictions will also affect migratory movements, and this is likely to keep remittances subdued even in 2021, the WB predicted.
Meanwhile, the volume of Bangladesh's inward remittance declined by around 12 per cent to $1.29 billion in March 2020, compared to that of March in 2019 due to COVID-19 impact.
