Cross-border payments: PayPal to be enabled from 15 May

In a major step forward for Sri Lanka’s digital economy and foreign exchange inflows, the Sri Lankan Government has decided to enable direct receipt of funds into Sri Lanka through PayPal, one of the world’s leading online payment platforms.

The move comes after years of requests from the country’s business community, IT professionals, and freelancers, who have long highlighted the need for such a facility. Accordingly, all arrangements have now been finalised to officially launch the service from 15 May.

The opportunity became possible following discussions held over the past several months among the Ministry of Digital Economy, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and the country’s private banking sector to remove the legal and technical barriers that previously prevented direct PayPal transfers into Sri Lanka.

The government stated that local entrepreneurs will no longer need to rely on fake overseas addresses or unofficial money transfer methods to receive payments from foreign clients.

The process will operate under the full regulation of the Central Bank, ensuring greater transparency in transactions while also enabling the government to collect due tax revenue from relevant earnings in a more systematic manner.

Source: The morning