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October inflows lift Sri Lanka’s remittances to US $ 7.6bn

Sri Lanka’s worker remittances rose 3.3 percent year-on-year to US $ 735.6 million in October, taking the inflows for the first 10 months of 2026 to US $ 7.60 billion, the Central Bank data showed.

The October receipts were up from US $ 712 million a year earlier and edged higher from US $ 734.4 million in September, according to the Central Bank’s Weekly Economic Indicators.

The remittances rose 16.5 percent in January-October, from US $ 6.52 billion in the same period last year, bringing in about US $ 1.08 billion more. In rupee terms, the inflows increased 25.8 percent to Rs.2.46 trillion over the 10 months.

The inflows are a key source of foreign exchange for Sri Lanka. The Central Bank was a net buyer of US $ 191 million in the domestic foreign exchange market in October, while the gross official reserves stood at a provisional US $ 7.09 billion at the end of the month, including the proceeds from the People’s Bank of China swap.

The rupee had depreciated 6.7 percent against the US dollar since the start of the year as of November 6