August remittances at robust US$ 578mn 

• Bolsters reserves shy of US$ 6.0bn

Sri Lankans working abroad have sent back once again a sizable amount of money which together with robust inflows from the tourism trade is acting as a bulwark against the possible risks in the likes of which Sri Lanka underwent during the pandemic and its immediate aftermath.

Sri Lanka has received a robust US$ 577.5 million in moneys repatriated in August, which was higher from both a month ago levels and a year ago levels.

In June, Sri Lanka received US$ 566.8 million while a year ago, the country received US$ 499.2 million, reflecting that roughly US$ 7.0 billion worth of annual remittance income is normalising.

This helped the country to collect a cumulative US$ 4,288.2 million in the first eight months, logging a 11.0 percent growth from the same period in 2023.

The economy is now regaining strength once again, faster than any other country which defaulted on their borrowings in the past due to the migrants resuming their inflows, increasingly via official channels and the tourism trade which virtually decimated due to the pandemic and thereafter by the social unrest in 2022, has now returned to normality.

With or without knowledge, the moneys that were refused to be sent back and routed through money changers since 2021 contributed directly to the crisis two years ago in Sri Lanka which solely occurred due to the shortage in foreign currency. 

Meanwhile, the strengthening inflows have helped the Central Bank to rebuild foreign currency reserves to just shy of US$ 6.0 billion by the end of August.

By the end of August, Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves amounted to US$ 5,954 million, up from US$ 5,652 million a month ago which includes roughly US$ 1.4 billion worth of Chinese Yuan denominated currency swap which has limitations on its usability on imports.