Trade deficit narrows in August 2020

According to the latest external trade data released by the Central Bank, country’s trade deficit narrowed in August 2020, as import prices declined at a faster pace than the decline in export prices.

Sri Lanka’s external sector continued to recover in relation to many aspects during August 2020, mainly supported by an improved trade deficit and a notable increase in workers’ remittances.

The trade deficit improved on a year-on-year basis, with the reduction in merchandise imports due to regulatory restrictions on the importation of non-essential goods and lower crude oil prices, despite earnings from merchandise exports recording a year-on-year decline during the month.

Nevertheless, the export performance remained strong for the third consecutive month in spite of the pandemic affected global demand.

The deficit in the trade account in August 2020 narrowed to US$ 342 million from US$ 541 million in August 2019, as imports declined at a faster pace than the decline in exports.

Also, on a cumulative basis, the trade deficit narrowed by over US$ 1 billion to US$ 3,812 million during the period from January to August 2020 from US$ 4,855 million in the corresponding period of 2019.

Meanwhile, terms of trade, i.e., the ratio of the price of exports to the price of imports, improved by 4.6% (year-on-year) in August 2020 as import prices declined at a faster pace than the decline in export prices

Although export performance remained robust considering the current global market conditions, earnings from merchandise exports declined both on a year-on-year basis as well as on a month-on-month basis in August 2020. Accordingly, merchandise exports declined to US dollars 947 million in August 2020 compared to US dollars 1,033 million recorded in August 2019 and US dollars 1,085 million recorded in July 2020. The year-on-year decline emanated from declines recorded in earnings from all three major categories of exports, namely, industrial, agricultural, and mineral exports.

The export volume index improved by 3.2 per cent, on a year-on-year basis, while the unit value index deteriorated by 11.2 per cent, on a year-on-year basis, in August 2020, indicating that the year-on-year decline in earnings from exports was, on average, driven by lower export prices.