Reserves with balances at the Asian Clearing Union, a regional settlement arrangement, were 5,308 million US dollars by end-November. The Central Bank said 262 million US dollars had flowed into short-term Treasury bills and 1,068 million US dollars into Treasury bonds.

Remittances from expatriate workers had increased 12.9 percent to 2,774 million US dollars to November, up 12.9 percent from a year earlier.

The remittances were 557 million US dollars above the trade deficit. Remittances which increases the spending power of economic agents is a key driver Sri Lanka's trade deficit under Sri Lanka's pegged exchange rate regime, with capital controls.

In recent months the Central Bank's bill stock has started climbing and foreign reserve increases are also now tapering off. In December the government also settles foreign loans, for which foreign reserves are usually effectively appropriated.