Sri Lanka received US$847 million in worker remittances in May 2026, up from US$767.9 million in April and US$641.7 million in May 2025, Central Bank data released on Friday show.
Cumulative inflows for January-May 2026 reached US$3.91 billion, against US$3.10 billion in the corresponding period a year ago — a year-on-year increase of about 26 percent in dollar terms, Newswire reported.
In rupee terms the May figure was Rs.275.2 billion, against Rs.192.1 billion in May 2025. Cumulative remittance inflows for the first five months stood at Rs.1.23 trillion, a 33.4 percent increase from Rs.922.6 billion a year earlier — a wider gain than the dollar comparison because of the rupee’s depreciation over the period.
EconomyNext reported on Sunday that the May 2026 surge had come amid escalation in the Middle East — the largest foreign job market for Sri Lankans — and the rupee’s slide to a near four-year low, with both factors typically encouraging higher official remittance flows. Monthly inflows remain below the all-time monthly record of US$879.1 million set in December 2025, and the running pace puts the country on track to test the historic full-year 2025 record of US$8,076.2 million.
Worker remittances remain one of the country’s largest sources of foreign exchange alongside tourism and merchandise exports, and have become an increasingly important counterweight to a trade gap widened by the April current account flip into deficit. Deputy Finance Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando cited the rising remittance trend on Friday in pushing back against opposition claims that the rupee’s recent slide signalled a fresh economic crisis.
