DHAKA: Bangladeshi citizens working overseas sent a $14.227 billion in remittances during the period of July 2013 to June 2014 fiscal, a down by 1.6 percent from the previous year, said Bangladesh Bank (BB).

Remittances inflows turned positive in February - the first year-on-year increase since August 2013, which set a new of $21.56 billion foreign exchange reserves at the end of June along with strong export.

Total inflows were worth $14.46 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Remittances are a key source of the country’s foreign exchange, alongside garment exports, which account for 80 percent of total export earnings of around $28 billion a year.

BB officials said, “Remittances dropped over the last few months because of political turmoil ahead of the January 5 election; in addition, the fewer workers are going abroad for jobs.”

BDST: 1408 HRS, JULY 04, 2014