Remittance dropped to a seven-year low in September, much to the concern of the government.

Last month, migrant workers sent home $853.73 million, down 19.20 percent year-on-year, according to data from the Bangladesh Bank.

The main reason for the slump is that the economic scenario in the Middle East, which hosts the majority of the migrant workers from Bangladesh, is yet to improve despite the slight pick-up in oil price in recent months. Global oil price slump is a major reason for the downward trend in remittance inflow, said AB Mirza Azizul Islam, a former advisor to a caretaker government.

“The price of petroleum products is yet to reach a satisfactory level to boost the business situation in the Middle East countries.”

The political situation in the European countries is not favourable either, which have also hit the country's inflow of remittance, he added.

Besides, many expatriate Bangladeshis have opted to send money home through illegal channels like hundi, which deflated the official remittance figure, said a BB official. “The post-Eid hangover was another cause for the low inflow of remittance.”

Remittance was relatively higher in the first two months of the fiscal year as migrant workers sent money home for Eid-ul-Azha.

Remittance inflow in fiscal 2016-17 was the lowest in six years -- a development that can be viewed as a dark cloud over an otherwise buoyant economy.

Migrant workers sent home $12.77 billion last fiscal year, down 14.47 percent year-on-year.