US$ 36 billion of Sri Lanka’s export money held offshore

It was  reported in July (2022) about an investigation carried out by the Global Finance Integrity (GFI); a think tank based in Washington, USA operating with governmentsupport. Its task is to keep an eye on the export trade of countries of the world. GFI observes whether money is properly exchanged between two countries during a trade. According to its observations, between 2009-2017, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has not received more than US$ 36 billion due from exports. The money is held offshore. 

US$ 36 billion is more than one third of Sri Lanka’s economy. Sri Lanka has an 81-billion-dollar economy. Accordingly, stashing 36 billion dollars owed to Sri Lanka in offshore bank accounts without remitting is a huge issue. There are a number of reasons for this situation. From the exporters’ point of view, they present reasons that can be justified. They give different reasons. Some people may have done this to face the emerging dollar crisis. Or maybe they did this to earn more income from the export trade. Those who provide answer these claims give reasonable explanations to justify those actions.