ECONOMYNEXT – Departures for foreign employment in 2024 hit a new record of 314,828, up 5.8 percent from a year ago and topping the 310,953 seen in 2022, official data show, after a severe currency collapse.
Official worker remittances grew by 10.1 percent to 6.6 billion US dollars, with most the money coming from currency board like regimes in the Middle East.
Sri Lanka saw low number of departures during Coronavirus crises but remittances – officially and unofficially continued – as returnees also reduced amid travel restrictions.
Sri Lanka’s passport issues sharply reduced in the third quarter amid a controversial tender for passport printing and court cases.
Passport issues picked up in the fourth quarter, following the election of a new administration.
In 2024 most of the departures were to Middle Eastern countries with currency board like regimes where macroeconomists do not have full legal powers to print money and depreciate currencies.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, UAE was the largest official source of remittances with 200.7 million dollars, Kuwait 199.1, Saudi Arabia 166.8 and Qatar 147.9.
The countries operate currency board like regimes, where macro-economics cannot cut rates arbitrarily and drive credit cycles, leading to monetary stability long germ investment and a demand for imported labour.
Some of the monetary authorities in recent years have seen the introduction of greater central bank like powers through ‘monetary policy modernization’ which can lead to instability social unrest and political instability like other oil-rich Middle Eastern states, if currencies collapse, analysts say.
Other top sources of remittances were from countries with 2 percent inflation targets.
Remittances from the United States in the fourth quarter of 2024 were 123.5 million dollars and South Korea, and the UK 105.2 million dollars.
US and UK numbers came partly from various remittances platforms where money from third countries were channeled, the central bank said.
Remittances from Italy were 97.6 million dollars and the Maldives 49.9 million dollars. (Colombo/May11/2025)
Source:
https://economynext.com
