The internet blackout for five days has affected remittance collection through banks and mobile financial services (MFS), which may put pressure on the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Bankers and officials of MFS providers said their remittance collection remained suspended from midnight of July 18, when the internet shutdown was imposed, to July 23, when broadband services were partially reinstated.

After the partial resumption of broadband internet services, overall remittance mobilisation by banks and MFS was lower than that on a regular day, they added.

Around $80 million to $100 million in remittances are sent to Bangladesh on a regular day, as per industry insiders.

The reserves stood at $21.78 billion as of June 30, according to calculations based on the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payment Manual 6.

"We were unable to collect inward remittance for five days amid the internet shutdown but the remittance flow became normal when broadband internet was made available," said Selim RF Hussain, managing director of BRAC Bank.

Hussain, also the chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh, told The Daily Star that overall remittance collection of July was likely to be low due to the overall situation but a better understanding can be availed next week.

A chief executive officer of a private bank said that liaison offices of the banks and MFS providers received remittance but were unable to send it to the local banks due to the internet outage.

However, some banks failed to collect remittance for the availability of banking services on a limited scale following the partial resumption of broadband internet.

Mercantile Bank faced difficulties in collecting remittance despite the resumption of broadband internet.

Its additional managing director, Mati Ul Hasan, said the bank faced problems collecting remittance as it could not access SWIFT due to slow internet connections.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) provides the main messaging network through which international payments are initiated.

The MFS providers were faced with the same situation.

An official of a leading MFS provider said they mobilise Tk 5 crore to Tk 7 crore in remittances on a normal day but it had come down to Tk 80 lakh due to the slow internet connections.

During July 1 to July 13, Bangladesh received $978 million in remittances.

Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC usually channels the major portion of remittances to Bangladesh. The Daily Star could not reach the bank's managing director, Mohammed Monirul Moula, over the phone.