Sri Lanka’s official export revenue from the IT/BPO sector is reportedly lower than the actual income, as some proceeds are classified as remittances, according to an industry expert. During the 2022 financial crisis, several IT firms that previously contributed to export revenue under services relocated, establishing offshore entities in countries such as Singapore and Dubai. These firms now invoice clients from their offshore offices, resulting in funds not being channeled back to Sri Lanka as they used to, explained Shehani Seneviratne, Chairperson of SLASSCOM.
“There is a bit of a discrepancy in what is reported by the Central Bank,” Seneviratne stated at a forum in Colombo on Friday. She noted that instead of being recorded as export revenue, the Central Bank reports some inflows from employees at these companies as remittances. “They invoice and recognize revenue in other locations, so that revenue doesn’t actually come into Sri Lanka,” she added.
Another contributing factor to this discrepancy is the rapidly expanding freelance community over the past two years. “This discrepancy is because of certain foreign exchange issues and policy constraints,” Seneviratne remarked.
Unlike Dubai or Singapore, Sri Lanka does not have an open ‘Capital and Financial account’ due to conflicting external and domestic monetary policies that began approximately 70 years ago. These policies involved liquidity injections for ‘macro-economic policy’, despite having a reserve-collecting Central Bank. Analysts argue that for decades, macroeconomists have misled politicians into imposing partial or full exchange controls, hindering the outward repatriation of profits or remittances and consequently complicating the operations of global firms within the country.
The IT/BPO industry is recognized for its significant export potential, particularly due to its high value-added component and minimal input requirements, Seneviratne emphasized. According to official data from the Export Development Board, export revenue from the ICT/BPM sector increased by 8.8 percent in 2025, reaching US$1,645 million. However, Seneviratne contends that this figure falls short of the industry’s potential.
“The ID BPM industry, I think, has a lot of potential, especially because it’s one of the most value-added industries, given that the only input is the talent and probably the laptops, the hardware that we use,” Seneviratne commented. (Colombo/February 08/2026)
