DHAKA -- The novel coronavirus threatens to scupper Bangladesh's run of strong economic growth, which has averaged 7% over the past decade.
But Bangladesh has an overseas lifeline: In June, an estimated 12.5 million Bangladeshis, working in more than 170 countries, wired home a record $1.83 billion. That raised the country's foreign exchange reserves to an all-time high of $36.14 billion. Remittances, equal to almost 6% of gross domestic product, are a pillar of the Bangladeshi economy.