Sri Lanka has achieved approximately 7.8 billion U.S. dollars in foreign remittances from its expatriate community, according to Foreign and Foreign Employment Minister Vijitha Herath. Although the official December figures from the central bank are yet to be released, estimates suggest a contribution of around 650-700 million U.S. dollars for that month.
Minister Herath highlighted at a media briefing that this total represents the highest remittance level in the country’s history, surpassing the previous record of 7.16 billion U.S. dollars set in 2017 within the first 11 months of 2025.
Worker remittances remain the leading source of foreign exchange revenue for Sri Lanka, which is still in the recovery phase from the severe economic crisis of 2022. The rise in remittances can be attributed to the central bank’s decision to abandon a parallel exchange rate regime. This policy shift encouraged many expatriates to transition from informal Undiyal and Hawala money transfer methods to official channels.
Since the country declared bankruptcy in 2022, Sri Lanka has been actively sending more migrant workers abroad, with a focus on professionals, to increase foreign exchange earnings. Previously, worker remittances through official channels had seen a significant decline in 2021. This downturn was due to expatriates opting for informal channels that offered better rates than those available through formal banking systems.
This shift was a result of the Central Bank’s previous interventions to maintain low policy rates, leading to the emergence of parallel exchange rates settled outside the formal banking framework.
(Colombo/January 05/2025)
