Remittances surge past $30bn: Can Bangladesh keep hundi out to make growth stick?

In the latest financial year, Bangladesh received almost $6.5 billion more in remittances than in the previous year. Experts attribute this surge to the near-paralysis of the hundi, or informal money transfer, network for capital flight after the political transition at home. But how long will such growth last? And for how long will the hundi network remain subdued? Those are the questions now in focus. Experts say the answer depends on the new government. Unless it demonstrates the capacity to curb money laundering via hundi, upskill migrant workers and tackle corruption, this growth will not be sustained. Their advice on building capacity: keep reforms going and enforce policies strictly. Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka...