Remittances increased 4.46 per cent year-on-year to $1.56 billion in February this year as expatriate Bangladeshis have been opting for the legal channel in the last several months to send their hard-earned money.

A Bangladesh Bank official said commercial banks and the central bank have recently taken different measures to strengthen the inflow in recent times as the country's banking sector is still facing a dollar shortage.

The efforts are now giving a little bit of breathing space to both the Bangladesh Bank and the government to manage the stress faced by the macroeconomy.

Remittances in February, however, declined 20.3 per cent from January when expatriate Bangladeshis sent home $1.95 billion, according to data from the central bank.

The BB official said the month of January contains 31 days whereas February is 28 days, so it is logical for a lower amount of remittances in the last month.

Between July and February of this fiscal year, remittance inflow stood at $14.01 billion, down 4.27 per cent year-on-year.

The BB official said the inflow had initially decreased in the first few months of this fiscal year as the receivers of remittances got a better return from the hundi cartel, an illegal cross-border financial transaction system.

But the local currency has recently faced a depreciation in recent times, encouraging expatriate Bangladeshis to send their income through banking channels.