Workers’ remittance inflows top US$ 500mn in July

• Sri Lanka saw 146,437 citizens departing for foreign employment during first five months of the year

Workers’ remittances to Sri Lanka have surpassed the US$ 500 million threshold for the second time since the pandemic, reaching US$ 541 million in July, according to data released by the Central Bank.
Since April 2021, Sri Lanka for the first time recorded the highest workers’ remittance inflow of US$ 568.3 million in March 2023,ahead of Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
Between the years 2015 and 2020, Sri Lanka experienced workers’ remittance inflows ranging from US$ 572.8 million to US$ 702.1 million in the month of June.
However, it fell to US$ 453.3 million in June 2021 due to the pandemic and fixed exchange rate maintained by the authorities.

The cumulative workers’ remittance inflows for first seven months of 2023 rose by 78 percent YoY to US$ 3.36 billion from US$ 1.89 billion a year ago.
According to available data, Sri Lanka saw 146,437 citizens departing the country for foreign employment during the first five months of the year, which is similar to departure levels seen last year at the height of the economic crisis. In 2022, overall departures rose to around 311,056.

Sri Lanka is expected to reach US$ 6 billion in workers’ remittance inflows this year, if the current trend persists.
Amid improvements seen in the domestic foreign exchange market, the government has been easing restrictions on imported goods.  In June and July this year, the Central Bank interfered in the forex market to stabilise the rupee amidst fluctuations. By the end of last week, the rupee had appreciated by 13.5 percent against the US dollar.