Sri Lanka, has recorded a 5.1 per cent growth in export revenue from January to October 2018, while recording a 10.3% growth in import expenditure, show the latest statistics from the Central Bank.
During the period, Sri Lanka recorded US$ 9,877 million revenue from exports whereas the export revenue from January to October 2017, had been US$ 9,400 million. The import bill from January to October 2018 was US$ 18,734 million. (US$ 16,991 from January to October 2017). As the expenditure on imports has been continuously growing, the Trade Deficit has also widened from (-)7,591 million to (-) 8,857 million.
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) rose significantly during this year, recording a US$ 1,801 million, whereas in 2017 FDI (up to October) was US$ 693 million.
From January to October 2018, export revenue from Petroleum products (56.3%), Base metals and articles (47.5%), Animal fodder (46.5%), textiles (25.3%), Chemical products (15.9%) and Food, beverages and tobacco (17.5%) had shown a significant improvement in terms of revenue compared to 2017 January to October. These top performers led to an 8.9% growth in industrial performance.
The Agriculture sector recorded 6.4% performance drop. Tea (-5.3%), Rubber (-17.5%), Coconut (-12.1%) and Spices (-11%) have dropped during the time. Seafood (9.2%) has been the only item in listed agriculture products which has shown growth.
Intermediate goods category (includes Fuel, Textiles, Wheat, Plastics and Fertilizer), has been the main contributor to the massive import bill, recording a US$ 10,430 million which is an increase of 13.7 compared to January to October 2017. However, imports expenditure under food and beverage category has displayed the negative growth, especially due to less import of rice, cereals, sugar and vegetables. However, expenditure on vehicle imports during the time, has grown to US$ 1,391 million which is a 126% increase compared to last year .