By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): Much needed foreign exchange inflows into the country has recorded a new high of Rs 640 million in September 2023 signifying the recovery in the external sector performance even under economic hoodwinds.
Workers’ remittances has increased to US $ 482 million in September 2023 in comparison to $ 359 million in September 2022 and $ 499 million in August 2023, Central Bank data shows
Meanwhile, based on the provisional data, total departures for foreign employment in September 2023 and during January to September 2023 amounted to 25,648 and 222,794, respectively, in comparison to the total departures of 311,056 recorded in 2022.
Tourist arrivals declined to 111,938 in September 2023, compared to 136,405 arrivals recorded in August 2023, reflecting the seasonal pattern.
However, the cumulative tourist arrivals improved notably during January to September 2023 to record 1,016,256, compared to 526,232 arrivals recorded during the corresponding period in 2022.
Earnings from tourism in September 2023 were estimated at US dollars 152 million, in comparison to the estimates of US dollars 211 million in the previous month and US dollars 41 million in the corresponding month in 2022.
Consequently, earnings from tourism during January to September 2023 amounted to US dollars 1,457 million, compared to US dollars 873 million in the corresponding period in 2022. India, China, United Kingdom,
Germany, and Russia were the main source countries for tourist arrivals during the month of September 2023.
Foreign investments in the government securities market recorded a lower net outflow of US dollars 17 million in September 2023, compared to the net outflow of US dollars 37 million in August 2023.
The cumulative net inflow during January to September 2023 amounted to US dollars 335 million.
Meanwhile, foreign inflows to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), including both primary and secondary market transactions, recorded a net inflow of US dollars 11 million during January to September 2023.
Gross official reserves stood at US dollars 3.5 billion by end September 2023. This included the swap facility from the People’s Bank of China equivalent to around US dollars 1.3 billion which is subject to conditionalities on usability.
The Central Bank absorbed 83 million US dollars from the domestic foreign exchange market on a net basis during the month. Overall, the Central Bank has purchased around US dollars 1.6 billion, on net basis, during January to September 2023.
