Bangladesh Oct remittances up 40.5 pct yr/yr

DHAKA, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Bangladesh received $911.20 million in remittances from workers overseas in October, up 40.5 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said on Thursday.

The expat incomes, a key source of foreign exchange for the economy, hit $9.7 billion in last fiscal year that ended in June, 22.3 percent higher than the previous year, in spite of the global economic slump.

In July-October, the first four months of the current fiscal year, remittances from more than 6 million expatriate Bangladeshis totalled $3.62 billion, 21 percent higher than the same period of previous year.

Millions of Bangladeshis are dependent on money sent by relatives working overseas, mainly in the Middle East, Europe and the United States, which is also a key plank of the economy.

Officials said strong remittances helped offset the impact of the trade shortfall and kept the overall balance of payments in surplus.

At the end of October the country's foreign exchange reserves surged to an all-time high of more than $9.5 billion, following a steady rise since February.

Analysts and global lending agencies including the World Bank warned the growth of remittances could slow down in the 2009/10 fiscal year as the number of workers leaving for overseas jobs is declining due to the impact of recession in major markets.

Expatriate incomes, which account for 10 percent of the GDP, are the country's second-biggest source of foreign income after ready-made garments, which earned more than $11 billion in the 2008/09 fiscal year.

($1=69.15 taka) (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Andy Bruce)