The central bank yesterday raised the maximum limit for inward remittances from $2,000 to $5,000 per transaction for freelancers and outsourcing companies.

Bangladesh Bank issued a notice yesterday, allowing authorised dealers to bring in funds from overseas against outsourcing services by signing deals with online payment gateway service providers.

Shameem Ahsan, a former president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services or BASIS, welcomed the decision.

“This will help freelancers and outsourcing companies bring in their export income in larger amounts,” he said.

The facility covers inward remittances against small-value services such as data entry/data processing, offshore IT services, business process outsourcing.

Under the initiative, freelancers and outsourcing companies can receive their overseas payments through Paypal, Money Bookers, Best Payment Gateway and Virtual Pay.

Ahsan, also a director of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the government should also raise the annual spending limit for IT and e-commerce companies to $50,000 from $20,000 and monthly expenditure to $5,000 from $2,000 now.

“Our competitors spend $50,000 per year for promoting their products through Facebook and Google whereas we can spend only $20,000. As a result, we are lagging behind our competitors,” he said.

IT entrepreneurs say a thriving e-commerce sector can have a huge economic impact for Bangladesh. The recent World Development Report 2016 Digital Dividends highlights many instances of how e-commerce is boosting the employment opportunities of those who may have been excluded from the global market place.

According to the report, the internet enables many small firms to participate in global trade, leading to more inclusion.