COLOMBO, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's workers' remittances rose to 847 million U.S. dollars in May 2026, the latest Weekly Economic Indicators report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka showed.
According to the report, remittances increased from 767.9 million U.S. dollars in April. It also showed a whopping 32 percent increase compared to May 2025, when remittances stood at 641.7 million U.S. dollars.
With that, inflows from Sri Lankan workers abroad amounted to about 3.91 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months of this year, a 26 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Gross official reserves were provisionally estimated at 6.873 billion U.S. dollars by the end of May 2026.
The central bank also reported that its net foreign currency supply to the domestic foreign exchange market, based on value, amounted to 211 million U.S. dollars in May 2026. Despite stronger remittance inflows and higher reserves, the Sri Lankan rupee had depreciated by 7.8 percent against the U.S. dollar on a year-to-date basis as of June 5, 2026. ■