CB worried over tourism earnings, workers’ remittances

The Central Bank this week warned against the moderation in tourism earnings and workers’ remittances.

Earning from tourism up to the first eight months was $ 2.93 billion, up by 12.5%. However, by end October, Central Bank estimated it to be $ 3.5 billion, up by 10.7% from $ 3.16 billion in the first 10 months of last year. 

Tourist arrivals in October managed to grow by a disappointing 0.5% to 153,123 whilst the first 10 months figure was 1.8 million, up by 10.6%.

In 2017, earnings from tourism increased by 11.6% to $ 3.92 billion in 2017 from $ 3.5 billion in 2016.

On the other hand, workers’ remittances in August declined by 11% to $ 372 million and by 1% to $ 4.7 billion in the first eight months. By end September, workers’ remittances amounted to $ 5.27 billion, down by 1.5% from $ 5.35 billion a year earlier.

In 2017, workers’ remittances declined marginally to $ 7.16 billion from $ 7.24 billion in the previous year.