Maldives remitted USD 29.3 million to Sri Lanka in Q1-2023, the Sri Lankan central bank reported.
Sri Lanka’s “Economy Next” reports Maldives has the “soundest money in South Asia”, and reported that the country is listed among the top 10 countries with remittance to Lanka. Maldives was ranked 9th for the highest remitted figure to Lanka in the review quarter.
A large portion of the Maldivian tourism industry workforce is comprised of Sri Lankan expatriates, through whom US Dollars is remitted.
In 2022, Maldives remitted a whopping total of USD 557 million to Sri Lanka, a 12% increment from 2021 while the remitted figure from the Maldives continues to surge year on year.
Maldives is also the only country to remit money to Sri Lanka in the South Asian region. Besides Lanka, Maldives also remits money to India, Bangladesh, and Nepal which have sizeable expatriates numbers in the Maldivian workforce.
While Maldives in 9th ranked in the countries that remit money to Sri Lanka, the highest remittance to the country originate from the Middle East.
Sri Lankan central bank reported an official remittance of USD 160.5 million from Kuwait, USD 146.2 million from Qatar, USD 130.3 million from United Arab Emirates (UAE), and USD 123.1 million from Saudi Arabia.