Sri Lanka’s Reserves Rise to $6 Bn; Remittances exceeded $ 500 Mn

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka's Gross Official Reserves (GOR) improved to US dollars 6.0 billion at the end of August 2024 compared to US dollars 4.4 billion at end December 2023. 

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said that this includes the swap facility from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), which is subject to conditionalities on usability. 

Net purchases of foreign exchange from the domestic foreign exchange market by the Central Bank amounted to US dollars 149 million (based on trade date) in August 2024. 

Meanwhile, import coverage of GOR (including the PBOC swap) amounted to 4.0 months of imports as at end August 2024.

The Central Bank also added that foreign investments in the government securities market recorded a net outflow of US dollars 30 million in August 2024 resulting in a cumulative net outflow of US dollars 251 million during JanuaryAugust 2024. 

Meanwhile, foreign flows to the CSE, including both primary and secondary market transactions, recorded a net inflow of US dollars 13 million in August 2024 and a cumulative net inflow of US dollars 44 million during January-August 2024.

The Central Bank also said that qorkers’ remittances amounted to US dollars 577 million in August 2024 in comparison to US dollars 499 million recorded in August 2023. 

Monthly workers’ remittances exceeded US dollars 500 million consecutively for six months since March 2024.