Remittances fell into negative territory last month after showing a dazzling display in December and January. The inflow stood at $1.49 billion in February, down 12.2 percent from the month before and 16 percent year-on-year, according to data from Bangladesh Bank.

Remittances maintained a downward trend from June to November last year, after which they commenced to climb up during the period of December-January. The government has recently increased the incentive for remitters to 2.5 percent instead of the previous 2 percent.

But, the inflow failed to get its expected momentum despite the government's efforts as the hundi cartel–an illegal cross-boundary financial transaction system–has become activated in a full-fledged manner, a central bank official said.

The global economy has become almost the same as the pre-pandemic period as many nations have contained the coronavirus pandemic. Many ex-pats are using the informal channel to send remittance as they receive more money against per dollar than what banks offer, the BB official said.