Workers’ remittances drop

By Rathindra Kuruwita 

Sri Lanka has received 248.9 million US dollars in April 2022 as workers’ remittances, a drop of over 50 percent compared to April 2021, according to THE Central Bank statistics.The Central Bank has said that between January and April 2021, Sri Lanka received 2.38 billion US dollars as workers’ remittances.In 2022, the number has decreased to 1.03 billion US dollars, drop of 56.8 percent.Sri Lanka received 62, 980 tourists in April 2022. In April 2021, the number dropped to 4,168.The Central Bank says that between January and April 2021, Sri Lanka received only 13,797 tourists.During the corresponding period last year, there 348, 314 tourist arrivals.Earnings from tourism in April 2021 was US dollars 10.9 million. In April 2022, the country earned 113.3 million US dollars.The Central Bank has said between January and April 2021, Sri Lanka earned 36 million U.S. dollars from tourism. This increased to 626.4 million US dollars during the same time period in 2022.Tourism and workers remittances are vital sources of foreign currency earnings for Sri Lanka.