Colombo: Amid the ongoing economic crisis, Sri Lanka has a good news to share. According to the latest data from the country’s central bank, the surge in tourism revenues has been witnessed as 22 percent to 198.1 million US dollars in March 2023 from a year earlier.
With an earning around $198.1 million in March, bringing Srilanka’s tourism earnings in the first quarter to $529.8 million, the data showed.
In the first three months of 2022, Sri Lanka earned $482.3 million from tourism.
A tourism official said earlier this month that Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is aiming to attract 2 million visitors in 2023, compared to the previous target of 1.5 million.
Tourism, one of Sri Lanka’s leading foreign exchange earners, suffered a setback due to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as economic and political crises in the country.
However, Migrant workers’ remittances are one of the main sources of foreign revenue for Sri Lanka.
Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said on Friday that Sri Lanka saw a significant increase in remittances so far this year with over $560 million sent back by migrant workers in March.
Announcing the monthly remittances received, the Minister said it marked a 78.5 per cent increase from the inflows recorded in March 2022.
Nanayakkara said remittances by migrant workers have increased remarkably this year.
The South Asian country got $437.5 million in remittances in January, and $407.4 million in February, Central Bank of Sri Lanka data showed.
Official figures for the 2021 and 2022 totals were $5.49 billion and $3.8 billion, respectively.
-Dr. M Shahid Siddiqui (PhD), Follow via Twitter @shahidsiddiqui
