Accordingly, the worker remittances for January 2024 were recorded at US$487.6 compared to $153.5 million in January 2023, Cetral BANK data showed.

Sri Lanka saw a record high labour migration in 2022 as 311,269 people moved to other countries in search of jobs in foreign currency after the island nation’s currency collapsed and inflation soared to an all-time high, the government data showed.

The island nation’s rupee fell over 60 percent in 2022 – from 200 rupees to 360 rupees – after the central bank printed billions of rupees to finance the government spending in the face of higher state expenditure and lower government revenue.