Remittances decline 32.3% in April

• Cumulative basis remittances dropped 9% to $ 1.9 b  
• No tourism revenue due to lockdown  

Workers’ remittances declined by 32.3% in April year-on-year, amounting to $ 375 million as Sri Lanka underwent a curfew to reduce COVID-19 spread, the Central Bank said yesterday.  

On a cumulative basis, workers’ remittances recorded a decline of 9% to $ 1,975 million during the first four months of 2020, in comparison to the corresponding period of 2019. With the suspension of all passenger flight and ship movements to Sri Lanka from mid-March due to the outbreak of COVID-19, no tourist arrivals were recorded in April, with cumulative tourist arrivals remaining at 507,311 during the first four months of 2020 compared to 907,575 during the corresponding period in 2019.

With these developments, cumulative earnings from tourism were provisionally estimated at $ 956 million during the first four months of 2020, recording a drop of 44.1% from the corresponding period of 2019.