Reported tourism earnings for January revised upwards by over US $ 100mn

• CB says SL received US $ 268.3mn from tourism in January, up from earlier claim of US $ 110.7mn

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
The income recorded from tourism for the month of January 2022 has almost doubled from what was initially captured and reported by the Central Bank. In a span of a week, the change in earnings reported has increased by over US $ 100 million.

The Weekly Economic Indicators reported by the Central Bank on February 11 captured the earnings from tourism for the month of January as US $ 110.7 million. 

However, in the Weekly Economic Indicators report dated February 18, the earnings from tourism were captured as US $ 268.3 million by the Central Bank. 

The earnings for January 2021 were also revised to US $ 5.5 million.
While the data is subject to further revision based on the final computing carried out by the relevant authorities, the changes made to the earnings fetched for the month of January is substantial. The average foreign exchange inflow from tourism for the month of January during the pre-COVID period was about US $ 445 million.
For January, this year, the island nation welcomed a total of 82,327 tourists.

The government heavily banks on tourism earnings to ride the current foreign exchange crunch. 
Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal in a recent interview with Bloomberg expressed confidence in the tourism sector being a major contributor in easing the ongoing forex shortage in the country.
Cabraal sounded upbeat in Sri Lanka luring about 100,000 international visitors in February and a higher number from March onwards.