Workers’ remittance : Govt proposes “Overseas Employee Salutation” programme

July 2, 2024 at 4:09 PM

Cabinet approval has been granted for the implementation of the “Overseas Employee Salutation” programme (විගමණික හරසර) to evaluate the tremendous contribution by Sri Lankan migrant workers during the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

According to the government, a request was made from overseas employees to contribute at least USD 500 million per month across legitimate means to decrease the trade gap encountered by the Sri Lankan economy in 2022. 

Followed by the positive response given by the overseas employees to that request, the employee remittances swelled up to USD 11 billion from June 2022 to May 2024. 

Accordingly, the Cabinet approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment to implement a programme named “Overseas Employee Salutation” to evaluate the contribution of overseas employees towards the economy. (Newswire)