Record remittance

Dhaka: Bangladeshis working abroad, a key source of economic stability for the impoverished South Asian country, sent home a record $6.56 billion in 2007. The remittances totalled $1.1 billion more than the five million workers sent home in 2006, said the executive director of the Bangladesh’s central bank, Yasin Ali. “It’s a tremendous achievement and it is mainly due to a record number of people going abroad with jobs last year and increased inflows through formal banking channels,” he said. The record remittances also pushed up Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves to $5.5 billion, the highest since the country gained independence in 1971. — AFP