Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said that foreign workers will be given an additional duty concession up to US$ 4,800 when they return to Sri Lanka in addition to the current duty concessions.
The duty concession, given as a special migrant labour package, will be effective from tomorrow, May 1 and Sri Lankans abroad who send back remittances of US$ 2,400 or more within a year will be entitled to it. All migrant workers who have sent money to Sri Lanka through legitimate channels from May 2022 will also be entitled to it. This is the biggest concession granted to Sri Lankan workers abroad and will come under five categories: Silver, Silver +, Gold, Gold + and Platinum.
Workers who have sent between US$ 2,400-4,799 in a year or less will come under the Silver category and they will be entitled to US$ 600 in addition to the current duty concessions.
Workers who have sent between US$ 4,800–7,199 US dollars during the stipulated period will come under the Silver + category and entitled to an additional concession of US$ 960. Workers sending between US$ 7,200 - 11,999 per year will be classified as Gold and receive an additional duty concession of US$ 1,440. Workers who send remittances between US$ 12,000-23,999 will come under the Gold+ category and can get a concession of US$ 2,400.
Workers who remit US$ 24,000 or more per year will be classified as Platinum and can receive an additional US$ 4,800 duty concession.
Workers will also be entitled to duty concessions that they have been entitled to as before; for less than 90 days - US$ 187.5, US$ 625 for 90 to 365 days and US$ 1,750 for more than 365 days. A Sri Lankan holding dual citizenship is also eligible for this additional duty concession.