Sri Lanka’s remittances surged by 10.3% to $566.8 million in July 2024, marking a significant rise from the previous year, thanks to increased use of official banking channels by expatriates. State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe announced on X (Twitter) that the total remittances for the first seven months of the year have reached $3.71
Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved five companies to operate foreign exchange counters at Bandaranaike International Airport, according to Minister Bandula Gunawardana. Following a competitive tender process, the selected firms are Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, Sampath Bank, Commercial Bank, and Thomas Cook. The franchise agreements will be effective for three years.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board announced that exports of Ceylon Tea have successfully offset $60 million of the country’s fuel bill owed to Iran. Since 2011, Sri Lanka had accumulated arrears of $251 million for fuel imports from Iran. Chairman Niraj De Mel noted that this settlement was achieved as tea exports to Iran tripled