Photo: Collected

Dhaka, June 8, 2026 (BSS) - Bangladesh Bank (BB) has introduced greater flexibility in the receipt of inward remittances by licensed freight forwarders, allowing them to receive payments from a wider range of foreign entities involved in international trade transactions.

In a circular today issued by the Foreign Exchange Policy Department (FEPD), the central bank referred to its FEPD-1 Circular No. 08 dated May 7, 2026, and subsequent instructions under which authorized dealers were permitted to process inward remittances of freight charges recovered from overseas importers through counterpart freight forwarders abroad and repatriated to Bangladesh through normal banking channels.
             
To facilitate smoother business operations and enhance transactional flexibility, the central bank has now decided that licensed freight forwarders may receive inward remittances not only from their overseas counterpart freight forwarders but also from alternative foreign entities. 

These entities include overseas importers, buying houses and other foreign parties responsible for arranging shipments.

The move is expected to simplify payment arrangements in international freight and logistics services by enabling foreign buyers and other related entities to remit freight charges directly to Bangladeshi freight forwarders through the banking system.

Bangladesh Bank stated that all other relevant instructions issued earlier regarding such transactions will remain unchanged. 

Authorized dealers have been advised to bring the contents of the circular to the attention of their relevant clients.

The circular has been issued under the authority vested in Bangladesh Bank under Section 20(3) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. 

The latest decision is expected to support the country's trade facilitation efforts by easing the flow of legitimate foreign exchange earnings into Bangladesh's freight forwarding sector.