The Finance Ministry has issued a circular making it mandatory for government sector employees to send a specified amount of US Dollars to Sri Lanka monthly after going abroad on unpaid leave.

Accordingly, primary level officials should send USD 100, secondary level officials USD 200, tertiary level officials USD 300 and other senior level officials should send USD 500 monthly to Sri Lanka.

The circular stated that expatriates should remit the money to a non-resident foreign currency account registered under their name through the Sri Lankan banking system.

The new circular has been issued to grant leave without pay to government employees subject to a maximum of five years for working abroad.

The circular has been issued with the objective of increasing foreign exchange remittances and obtaining a higher contribution to the country's economy by optimally utilizing the country's human resources.

Under several conditions, an employee would be given the opportunity to take leave for a maximum of five years for foreign employment without prejudice to seniority.

When applying for leave without pay to any government employee to work abroad, the Head of the organisation should consider granting the leave only if there is a system to cover the work of the said employee.

The circular further stated that this opportunity is available only to the officers employed on a permanent basis in the public service.

Meanwhile, if the employee has obtained loans from banks, other institutions or their own institution, the employee should come to a formal agreement on how to repay the loans during this no-salary period.