Remittances decline 23% in May

• No tourist arrivals, cumulative earnings for first five months estimated at $ 956 m 

Workers’ remittances declined by 23.2% in May, year-on-year, to $ 432 million, the Central Bank said yesterday.  

On a cumulative basis, workers’ remittances recorded a decline of 11.9% to $ 2,407 million during the first five months of 2020, in comparison to the corresponding period of 2019.

No tourist arrival was recorded in May with the suspension of all passenger flights and ship movements to Sri Lanka from mid-March due to the outbreak of COVID-19, and cumulative tourist arrivals remained at 507,311 during the first five months of 2020, compared to 945,377 arrivals recorded during the corresponding period in 2019.

Accordingly, cumulative earnings from tourism, which are estimated based on tourist arrivals, remained at $ 956 million during the first five months of 2020, recording a drop of 46.3% from the corresponding period of 2019.