Sri Lanka’s external sector remains steady with workers’ remittances and reserves showing resilience, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Workers’ remittances amounted to USD 729 million in February 2026, compared to USD 751.1 million in January 2026.

This also reflects a notable increase from USD 548.1 million recorded in February 2025, the Central Bank reported.

Meanwhile, the country’s gross official reserves were provisionally estimated at USD 7,284 million as at end‑February 2026, which includes proceeds from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) swap arrangement. (Newswire)

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Sri Lanka has reported workers’ remittances of US Dollars 566.8 million in July 2024 marking a 10.3% increase compared to the same period last year, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) reported.

According to the CBSL’s weekly report, the figures for July are an increase from the US Dollars 519.6 million recorded in June 2024.

The workers’ remittances reported for July 2024 were also an increase from the US Dollars 541.0 million recorded in July 2023. 

The CBSL states workers’ remittances increased to USD 566.8 million in July 2024 bringing the total for the first 07 months of 2024 to USD 3.71 billion. (Newswire)

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Workers’ remittances have dropped in August 2023 compared to the previous month, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka reported.

As per Sri Lanka’s External Sector Performance in August 2023, Workers’ remittances amounted to US dollars 499 million in August in comparison to the US$ 541 million recorded in July 2023.

However, August’s figures have shown a notable improvement in comparison to the US dollars 325 million reported in August last year (2022). 

A total of US$ 476 million was recorded in workers’ remittances in June 2023, while US$ 480 million was recorded in May 2023, and US$ 454 million in April.

The first three months of 2023 saw Sri Lanka Foreign workers’ remittances of US$ 437.5 million being recorded in January, US$ 407.4 million in February, and US$ 568.3 million in March 2023.

Meanwhile, total departures for foreign employment in August 2023 amounted to 26,131, while it was 197,146 during January to August 2023 in comparison to the total departures of 311,056 recorded in 2022. (NewsWire)

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Sri Lankan migrant workers’ foreign remittances increased to US$ 568.3 million in March 2023, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara revealed.

Minister Manusha Nanayakka said that US$ 568.3 million has been recorded in March 2023 in comparison to the US$ 318.4 million reported in March 2022. 

The Minister further stated that this was a 78.5% (US$ 249.9 million) increase compared to the inflows recorded in March 2022.

The workers’ foreign remittances reported for March 2023 is also an increase from the inflows recorded in February 2023.

According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, workers’ remittances were recorded at USD 407 million during February 2023.

The total departures for foreign employment were recorded at 23,974 during the month of February 2023, comprising unskilled (7,662), domestic aid (6,939), and skilled (6,582) categories. (NewsWire)

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Workers’ remittances and earnings from tourism continued to improve in February 2023, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka reported today.

The CBSL stated that registering over US dollars 400 million level for the second consecutive month this year, workers’ remittances recorded US dollars 407 million during February 2023, in comparison to US dollars 205 million reported in February 2022. 

Total departures for foreign employment were recorded at 23,974 during February 2023. Total departures of foreign employment comprised unskilled (7,662), domestic aid (6,939) and skilled (6,582) categories. 

In January 2023, workers’ remittances recovered to USD 437 million in comparison to USD 259 million in the corresponding month in the previous year. 

Total departures for foreign employment were recorded at 24,236 during January 2023.  Total departures of foreign employment comprised unskilled (7,556), skilled (7,283) and domestic aid (6,120) categories. 

The CBSL further stated that tourist arrivals increased in February 2023 to 107,639, compared to 102,545 arrivals recorded in January 2023 and 96,507 recorded in February 2022. 

Russia, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France remained the main source countries for tourist arrivals in February 2023. 

Earnings from tourism in February 2023 are estimated at US dollars 170 million, in comparison to US dollars 162 million in the previous month and US dollars 169 million in the corresponding month in the previous year. 

In January 2023, tourist arrivals showed an increase to 102,545, compared to 91,961 arrivals recorded in December 2022 and 82,327 recorded in January 2022.

Russia, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia remained the main source countries for tourist arrivals in January 2023. 

Earnings from tourism in January 2023 were estimated at USD 162 million, in comparison to USD 127 million in the previous month and USD 152 million in the corresponding month in the previous year.

Furthermore, the deficit in the merchandise trade account narrowed significantly to US dollars 39 million in February 2023, from US dollars 780 million in February 2022, mainly reflecting the impact of significant moderation of import expenditure due to subdued aggregate demand conditions. 

Full statement: https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/sites/default/files/cbslweb_documents/press/pr/press_20230331_external_sector_performance_february_2023_e.pdf (NewsWire)

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