• April worker remittance income at US $ 519mn, up from US $ 375mn YoY
• Cumulative remittance income for first 4 months at US $ 2.3bn, up 21% YoY
• CB has upgraded worker remittance target for this year to US $ 8bn
• Last year, SL received US $ 7.1bn as worker remittances 

The remittance income in April jumped 38.3 percent from a low base a year ago, as such income plunged to its worst in April last year when the pandemic made a large part of the world economy to go into lockdowns, disrupting financial and trade flows. 

Sri Lanka received US $ 519 million in April 2021 from migrants working abroad, higher than the US $ 375 million repatriated a year ago but lower than US $ 553.7 million in the same month in 2019. 

Worker remittances remained the only other bright spot in Sri Lanka’s external sector, followed by merchandise exports, as they have been consistently growing now for the 12th consecutive month since May 2020. 

With the April income, the country on a cumulative basis has received US $ 2,386 million as remittance income, up 20.8 percent from the same period in 2020. 

While the Central Bank expects that the trend would prevail, the monetary authority remains watchful of possible disruptions from the current virus resurgence and said would review the projection if the circumstances demand. 
As the authorities grew more optimistic over the pace of the remittances during the last many months, the Central Bank earlier this year upgraded the remittance income target for 2021 to US $ 8.0 billion. 

Worker remittances to Sri Lanka grew by 5.8 percent in 2020 to US $ 7.1 billion, reaching a four-year high. 

Meanwhile, tourism, which is the second largest foreign exchange income to the country, remains still in doldrums, after the pandemic stalled the industry in March last year, depriving the country of over US $ 4.5 billion per annum. 
Although the country reopened its borders for tourists in January, the arrivals didn’t pick up as envisaged and the current conditions have further dimmed the expectations of a revival in the trade anytime soon. 

As prospects for an economic boom are suddenly derailed, the Central Bank is looking at multiple options to bolster its external reserves, including a US $ 780 million from the International Monetary Fund, under its Special Drawing Rights facility available for member countries, which is expected around August this year. 

Sri Lanka took the receipt of a US $ 500 million loan from China Development Bank in April, which strengthened external reserves to US $ 4.5 billion, equivalent of 3.2 months of imports.