Earnings from tourism top a billion dollars in 2012, Central Bank says
View(s):Earnings from tourism exceeded US dollars one billion in a calendar year for the first time in 2012, the Central Bank (CB) said this week, as statistics for December 2012 rolled into the economy.
Earnings for the whole of 2012 totalled $1.03 billion, an impressive growth of 25.1 per cent.
Expenditure on imports declined considerably in December, the Central Bank (CB) said this week.
Expenditure on consumer goods declined in the same month with expenditure on food imports as well as other consumer goods including vehicles easing.
Lower import costs in respect of vehicles has continued to make a significant contribution to the deceleration in total expenditure on imports in 2012. In December, expenditure on intermediate goods imports also declined on year-on-year basis. This decline was driven by lower import expenditure in relation to petroleum products, diamonds, precious and semi-precious stones, and mineral products, the CB statement added.
Expenditure on imports of investment goods increased last year but in response to the policy measures adopted by the CB and the government earlier in the year to reign in import expenditure, expenditure on imports of consumer goods and intermediate goods declined steadily from around April.
In December, earnings from exports declined on a year-on-year basis, as earnings from industrial exports which account for about three fourths of total export earnings, declined. Agricultural exports however increased on a year-on-year basis in December as earnings from exports of tea, spices, unmanufactured tobacco and sea food increased. Sri Lanka’s tea exports have fetched favourable prices since around May 2012 and have therefore helped buoy export earnings during much of the year, the CB said. With respect to other agricultural products exported, spices, unmanufactured tobacco and sea food have recorded increased export earnings for 2012.
“Nevertheless, with earnings from exports of most items categorised under agricultural exports declining in 2012, earnings from agricultural exports recorded a drop for 2012. Earnings from industrial exports also declined in 2012, with declines being recorded by most items categorised under industrial exports, including garments, which account for more than a third of total export earnings. While prices of key inputs to industrial products such as cotton, rubber and several metals including aluminium and copper have declined from the high levels that prevailed in the early months of 2011, this has also contributed significantly to the drop in earnings from industrial exports in 2012,” the statement added.
Earnings from tourism and workers’ remittances recorded the highest ever inflows for a year in 2012. Tourist arrivals in December 2012 increased by 25.4 per cent, year-on-year, to 122,252. Accordingly, tourist arrivals totalled 1,005,605 in 2012, a growth of 17.5 per cent. Tourist arrivals exceeded one million in a calendar year for the first time in 2012, the CB said.
Inflows on account of workers’ remittances increased by 9.3 per cent, year-on-year, in December. For 2012, workers’ remittances recorded a growth of 16.3 per cent and amounted to $5.98 billion.
Foreign investments at the Colombo Stock Exchange in 2012 resulted in a net inflow of $305 million compared to the net outflow of $171 million recorded in 2011. “There has been a significant increase in foreign investments in Government securities, with net inflows to Treasury bills and Treasury bonds during 2012 amounting to $843 million compared to the net inflow of $233 million in 2011,” the CB said.
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