Sri Lankan export earnings slump in Jan, continues 2012 trend
View(s):Sri Lanka’s economy opened year 2013 on a weaker note with export earnings down 18.2 per cent in January against the same month in 2012, just-released Central Bank (CB) figures show.
The latest figures continued a trend seen in 2012.
Earnings fell to US$727 million in January, as earnings from all major categories of exports declined, on a year-on-year basis. The decline was mainly driven by industrial exports which declined by 20.7 per cent. Earnings from exports of textiles and garments declined by 8.9 per cent. Exports of transport equipment, gems, diamonds and jewellary and rubber products were the other categories of export that contributed significantly to the decline in export earnings.
The drop was attributed to overseas demand affected by the slow recovery of major export destinations like the EU and the USA.
Earnings from agricultural exports declined in January 2013, as a result of earnings from both traditional and non-traditional agricultural exports declining. Despite exports of tea continuing to fetch favourable prices, the drop in demand from main markets led to a decline in earnings from tea exports in January.
“While the price of natural rubber has decreased globally, the decline in volumes of rubber exports could be attributed partly to the demand from local manufacturers of rubber based products. Of non-traditional agricultural exports, earnings from the export of spices increased in January 2013, led mainly by the commendable performance of pepper and cloves exports,” the CB said in its monthly report for January.
It said the trade deficit continued to narrow and recorded a 24 per cent year-on-year decline in January 2013. The policy measures implemented early in 2012 to discourage non-essential imports have continued to ease pressure on the trade deficit and therefore on the current account balance.
Expenditure on imports declined by 21.3 per cent, year-on-year, to $1,507 million in January, reflecting the effectiveness of the policies introduced early in 2012 to curb import expenditure.
Lower expenditure on imports of transport equipment, gold and vehicles also made a significant contribution toward the decline in import expenditure in January 2013.However, expenditure on imports of certain intermediate goods such as chemical products, agricultural inputs, plastic and articles thereof and wheat and maize which accounted for about 11 per cent of imports, increased on a year-on-year basis in January 2013.
Vehicle imports, which declined by 51.7 per cent, year-on-year, made the largest contribution towards the decline in expenditure on consumer goods imports.
Tourist arrivals in January 2013 increased by 13.4 per cent, year-on-year, to 97,411 while earnings from tourism grew at a healthy rate of 20.5 per cent when compared with the corresponding month of 2012, to $107 million. Workers’ remittances amounted to $524 million in January 2013, compared to $473 million in January 2012, thus recording a year-on-year growth 10.8 of per cent.
The CB said there have been significant inflows of foreign investments to the Government securities market, with net inflows to Treasury bills and Treasury bonds amounting to $289 million during January 2013 compared to a net inflow of $170 million in January 2012. Further, in January 2013, long-term loans obtained by the government amounted to $125 million.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus