Sri Lanka’s IT, BPO export revenue lower than reality after crisis: expert
Sri Lanka’s official export revenue from the IT/BPO sector is likely to be lower than the actual value, an industry expert said.
Some IT firms which accounted for the export revenue under services have also opened new offices in other countries after the 2022 financial crisis. Some of them had set up offshore entities mainly in countries like Singapore and Dubai, industry analysts say.
Shehani Seneviratne, the Chairperson of Sri Lanka Association for Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) said Official figures are primarily based on foreign exchange remittances recorded through the Central Bank, whereas the industry’s actual value is based on the number of professionals generating export revenue, they say.
As a result of many IT/BPM companies established overseas branch offices to invoice international clients and realize revenues outside Sri Lanka during the economic crisis, a portion of export earnings is not formally recognized domestically, she said.
The shift was largely driven by policy constraints and limitations on foreign exchange mobility at the time, the SLASSCOM chief said.
“There is a bit of a discrepancy in what is reported by the Central Bank. So, this discrepancy is because of certain foreign exchange issues and policy constraints,” Seneviratne, told a forum in Colombo on Friday (06).
She said during the economic crisis, many IT/BPM companies established overseas branch offices to invoice international clients and realize revenues outside Sri Lanka.
“So, they invoice and recognize revenue in other locations so that revenue doesn’t actually come into Sri Lanka,” Seneviratne said.
SLASSCOM is the national chamber for the IT and Business Process Management (BPM) industry in Sri Lanka. It serves as a primary catalyst for growth in the country’s “Knowledge and Innovation” sector.
Another reason she said that caused this discrepancy was a rapidly growing freelance community over the last two years or so.
Industry analysts say, unlike Dubai or Singapore, Sri Lanka does not have an open Capital and Financial account due to conflicting external and domestic monetary anchors which began about 70 years ago, where liquidity injections are made for ‘macro-economic policy’, despite having a reserve collecting Central Bank.
As a result, analysts argue, macro economists had hoodwinked politicians for decades into partially or at times fully imposing exchange controls, blocking outward repatriation of profits or outward remittances making it difficult for global firms to come and smoothly operate in the country.
The IT/BPO industry is considered as a sector with extremely high export potential, in particular because it has a very high value-added component and also because it involves only a few inputs, Seneviratne said.
Export revenue from ICT/ BPM gained 8.8 percent in 2025 to US$1,645 million, the official data from Export Development Board showed.
However, Seneviratne argues the amount was far below the potential.
“The IT, BPM industry I think has a lot of potential, especially because it’s one of the most value-added industries, because the only input is the talent and probably the laptops, the hardware that we use.
