Colombo [Sri Lanka], July 8: Sri Lankan workers remitted over 2.8 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2023, Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment ManushaNanayakkara announced on Friday on TV.
Nanayakkara said workers remitted around 476 million dollars in June 2023, which is a significant increase compared to 274 million dollars in June 2022.
The minister said that workers' remittances, which declined in 2022, are rapidly rising.
"We are still below 2021 levels, but we will get there," he said.
In 2021, Sri Lankan workers sent 5.49 billion dollars and only remitted around 3.8 billion dollars in 2022, according to official data.
Workers' remittances have been a key pillar of Sri Lanka's foreign currency earnings, providing a substantial cushion against the widening trade deficit and thereby enhancing the external sector resilience of the country.
Source: Xinhua