Remittances by overseas Bangladeshi workers last month rose by 15.9% over June, despite a sharp drop in the number of people working abroad.
The money sent home in July was $1.48 billion, the largest amount in a single month ever recorded. Officials attribute the increase to the celebration of Id-al-Fitr marking the end of Ramadan in the last week of July.
The increase comes after a steady fall in remittances in the last few months. Only 450,000 Bangladeshis found overseas jobs in 2013, down more than 33% from 2012. Last year remittances totalled $13.83 billion, about one-tenth of the country's gross domestic product.
