FEPD Circular No. 30: Release of foreign exchange for private travel abroad - flexibility

Foreign Exchange Policy Department Bangladesh Bank Head Office Dhaka www.bb.org.bd FE Circular No. 30 Date: September 23, 2021 All Authorized Dealers in Foreign Exchange in Bangladesh Dear Sirs, Release of foreign exchange for private travel abroad – flexibility Please refer to paragraph 1(ii), chapter 12 of the Guidelines for Foreign Exchange Transactions-2018, Vol-1 and its subsequent circulars in terms of which Authorized Dealers (ADs) are allowed to release foreign exchange to an adult Bangladesh national during a calendar year upto USD 12,000 or equivalent, inter alia, for travel abroad without limiting to regions or countries of travel. 02. To bring flexibility in releasing foreign exchange for private travel, it has been decided that: (a) ADs may endorse/set travel entitlements on relevant passports to concerned Bangladeshi nationals in international cards for multiple years up to their validity, subject to compliance with the following instructions: (i) Yearly use shall not exceed the limit. (ii) Unused quota shall not be brought forward to following years. (iii) Bangladesh nationals proceeding abroad for employment/immigration or study purpose will not be eligible to avail this facility. Multiple endorsement should be discontinued for such individuals. (iv) Supplementary cardholders may avail this facility against their own travel entitlement with endorsement on own passports. (b) The time limit for annual travel quota will be counted from January 01 to December 31. If the travel involves subsequent year, travel entitlement will be counted for the particular year to which the transaction date relates. In that case, post facto endorsement will be required for the subsequent year unless multiple years’ endorsement facility has been used; particularly under international cards. Reporting to Bangladesh Bank for such cases will be based on transactions date. Cont’d to page - 02

-02- (c) In case of exceeding the quota limit endorsed through international cards, without availing the facility as noted at 2 above, while on travel abroad, for unavoidable but bonafide grounds acceptable to ADs, the excess amounts may be adjusted in the following ways: (i) By debit to RFCD accounts of relevant travelers; (ii) Excess amount not exceeding USD 500 or equivalent may be adjusted against travel quota of the following year without prior approval from Bangladesh Bank if option (i) is not possible to be executed. 03. ADs shall have adequate arrangements including monitoring mechanism to implement the above decisions meticulously. Other instructions regarding release of foreign exchange for travel abroad including reporting routines to Bangladesh Bank will remain unchanged. Please bring the above instructions, effective immediately, to the notice of all concerned. Yours faithfully, (Kazi Rafiqul Hassan) General Manager Phone: 9530123