Sri Lanka expects half a billion dollar increase in remittances

Central Bank of Sri Lanka says that the government expects the remittances to increase by US$ 500 million by the end of this year, recording the highest ever in the history.

In 2009, Sri Lanka earned US$ 3.3 billion as remittance and it is expected to increase up to US$ 3.8 billion this year.
The Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Dharma Dheerasinghe said that the increase of income is due to the government's focus on expatriation of and agreements with employers for better pay.

He said that the government is encouraging the high income earning professionals to seek foreign employment.

The government has initiated a number of welfare programmes for the benefit of the expatriate employees, he further stated.