Worker remittances cap highest in four years with US$ 6.6bn coming in

• December remittances receive a seasonal bump to reach US$ 614mn

Money sent home by Sri Lankan workers abroad in 2024 recorded its highest level since 2020, making it possible for the country’s external sector to return to its pre-crisis era of inflows from its largest source of foreign income.
Sri Lankans working abroad sent home a sizable US$ 613.8 million in December 2024 as remittances, up from US$ 569.7 million in the same month last year and also from the US$ 530.1 million in November.

Typically, December remittances get a bump due to the year-end festive and holiday season which is also ahead of the new back-to-school season.

Usually, after March, Sri Lanka typically receives the next highest inflows from remittances in December. But this time, December remittance income eclipsed the US$ 572.4 million received in March.

The stronger remittance flows in December put the full year remittance inflows at US$ 6,575.4 million, up 10.1 percent from what Sri Lanka received in 2023 and highest since 2020 when such inflows topped US$ 7.1 billion.

Since then, remittance inflows to Sri Lanka dropped as the Lankans working abroad chose to send their moneys via informal channels such as Undiyal and Hawala which offered them higher premiums to that of the official rate of around Rs.200 to a dollar, which was fixed at the time.

Some chose to send only the bare minimum as a protest against some of the new measures brought in at the time.
Sri Lanka’s remittances have increased since March 2022, when the Central Bank, under then-Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, abandoned the fixed exchange rate after failing to defend the currency. Stricter controls on informal money exchanges and a rise in Sri Lankans migrating for better jobs have also boosted inflows, as more workers send earnings back home.

At least a million Sri Lankans have left Sri Lanka for jobs and others for good in the three years through 2024.