• Home
• /
• Business

Sri Lanka exports rise on tea

Overseas sales rose 18.2 per cent to $634.8 million from $537.3 million a year earlier, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Imports increased 20.5 per cent in October to $1.1 billion, widening the trade shortfall 24 per cent.

Higher exports may boost the country’s $27 billion economy, which central bank Governor Nivard Cabraal forecasts will post slower growth this year. Overseas shipments are forecast to climb 10 per cent in 2008.

“The cumulative deficit in the trade balance for the first 10 months of 2007 narrowed to $2.85 billion, from $2.96 billion in the corresponding period last year, as a result of export growth exceeding that of imports,” the central bank said.

The value of Sri Lanka’s industrial exports such as clothes, jewelry and rubber-based products rose 12.1 per cent to $457 million, the central bank said. Agricultural shipments rose 21.5 per cent to $138 million.

Sri Lanka’s trade deficit in October increased 24 per cent from a year earlier to $443 million, the central bank said. The overall balance of payments posted a surplus of $696 million at the end of October on higher private remittances.