Sri Lanka sees significant increase in remittances in 2023

Colombo :  Sri Lanka saw a significant increase in remittances so far this year with over $560 million sent back by migrant workers in March, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said on Friday.

Announcing the monthly remittances received, the Minister said it marked a 78.5 per cent increase from the inflows recorded in March 2022, reports Xinhua news agency.

Nanayakkara said remittances by migrant workers have increased remarkably this year.

The South Asian country got $437.5 million in remittances in January, and $407.4 million in February, Central Bank of Sri Lanka data showed.

Official figures for the 2021 and 2022 totals were $5.49 billion and $3.8 billion, respectively.

Migrant workers’ remittances are one of the main sources of foreign revenue for Sri Lanka.