Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka to seal a minimum wage of US$ 200 a month for expatriate workers

Sri Lanka government has decided to bring new laws to restrict the flow of migrant workers to West Asian countries for low wages from next year. The government expects a minimum monthly wage of US$ 200 per head from any prospective country for the country’s expatriate labor force.

Some West Asian countries pay very low wages to Sri Lankan housemaids and those salaries remain on the level of little over US$ 100 a month for many years now.

Foreign Employment Development and Welfare Minister Keheliya Rambukwella recently said that the Ministry is eyeing revenue of US$ 4 billion as net profit from foreign employment next year.

The country’s main foreign remittance earner made 2.3 billion dollars as the net profit during the first six months of this year, which is a 21% increase when compared to the same period last year. The government targets US$ 3 billion direct foreign remittance by the end of this year.