Deficit in trade account contracted by more than USD 1.2 billion in 1H 2023

The gross official reserves were provisionally estimated at US dollars 3,724 million as at end June 2023 including the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) swap equivalent to around US dollars 1.4 bn, which is subject to conditionalities on usability, Weekly Economic Indicators report released by the Central bank of Sri Lanka said on Friday.
This means that usable gross official reserves of the country now amounts to USD 2.324 billion.
Meanwhile, earnings from exports declined by 10 per cent (year-on-year) to US dollars 5,871 mn during the first half of 2023 as a result of reduced earnings mainly from exports of textiles and garments (-17.4%), petroleum products (-28.4%), rubber products (-12.3%), coconut related products (-25.4%), and food, beverages and tobacco (-9.3%), among others.
Import expenditure declined by 18.6 per cent (year-on-year) to US dollars 8,161 mn during the first half of 2023, mainly due to lower imports of textiles and textile articles (-29.2%), machinery and equipment (-30.4%), fuel (-8.9%) and building material (-37.2%). Accordingly, the deficit in the trade account contracted significantly to US dollars 2,289 mn during the first half of 2023 from US dollars 3,506 mn in the corresponding period of 2022.