Colombo imposed age restrictions on women working overseas in 2013 after a 17-year-old Sri Lankan nanny was beheaded in Saudi Arabia over the death of a child in her care.

Following outrage over the execution, only women older than 23 were allowed to go abroad, while in Saudi Arabia the minimum age was set at 25.

But with Sri Lanka in its worst economic crisis since independence, the government on Tuesday eased the rules, including for Saudi Arabia.

“The cabinet of ministers approved the decision to lower the minimum age to 21 years for all countries given the need to increase foreign employment opportunities,” spokesman Bandula Gunawardana told reporters.

Remittances from Sri Lankans working abroad have long been a key source of foreign exchange for the country, bringing in around US$7 billion per year.

This number dived during the coronavirus pandemic to US$5.4 billion in 2021 and was forecast to drop under US$3.5 billion this year because of the economic crisis.

More than 1.6 million people from the nation of 22 million work abroad, mainly in the Middle East.

The South Asian country’s foreign currency reserves are so low that the government has restricted imports of even essentials including food, fuel and medicine.