Worker’s remittances have fallen 40.2 percent to $2.9 billion last year mainly as most Sri Lankan expatriate workers sought informal methods like Undiyal or Hawala to send the money due to higher exchange rate than that offered by the formal banking system in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan migrant workers’ foreign remittances amounted to a total of USD 844.9 million in the first two months of 2023, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) says.

According to a latest report published by the central bank, this is an increase of 82% in comparison to the total sum of USD 464.1 million foreign remittances recorded in both January and February last year.

The central bank’s figures have shown that the foreign remittances earned by Sri Lankan migrant workers’ were at USD 437.5 million and USD 407.4 million in January and February 2023, respectively.

Meanwhile, foreign remittances received in December 2022 alone amounted to USD 475.6 million, recording the highest figure reported in a single month since June 2021