The trade deficit widened in July 2019 as exports fell more than the decline in imports. Export earnings recorded a decline of 7.0 per cent (year-on-year) after a steady growth for several months while import expenditure declined by 2.2 per cent (year-on-year) in July 2019.

The decline in export earnings in July 2019 can be largely attributed to a reduction in earnings from petroleum products due to lower prices of bunker fuel and the export of a naval craft in July 2018, which resulted in a higher export base in the corresponding month of the previous year.

The trade deficit widened to US dollars 717 million in July 2019 compared to the deficit of US dollars 316 million recorded in June 2019.

Tourist arrivals observed a notable recovery from the impact of the Easter Sunday attacks recording an increase of 83.4 per cent in July 2019 over the preceding month.

Western province continued to account for the largest share as per the Provincial Gross Domestic Product (PGDP)  estimated by the Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) for 2018. Central and North Western provinces were the second and the third highest contributors, respectively.

The highest increase in PGDP share on year-on-year basis was reported in Western province. The only other province that reported an increase was North Central province. The shares of Central, Sabaragamuwa and Uva provinces decreased in 2018, while the shares of North Western, Southern, Eastern and Northern provinces remained unchanged. 

Over the past eleven months, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has taken a number of monetary and regulatory policy measures to induce a reduction in market lending rates. These measures include the reduction of the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 100 basis points in two steps, the reduction of the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) applicable on rupee deposit liabilities of Licensed Commercial Banks (LCBs) by 2.50 percentage points that released around Rs. 150 billion of additional liquidity to the financial market, and the imposition of caps on rupee deposit interest rates offered by licensed financial institutions that enabled them to reduce the cost of mobilising funds from the general public. 

“Sri Lanka Socio Economic Data – 2019”, the annually published data folder of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, is now available for public information. The current data folder is the 42nd volume of the series.

This easy-to-carry booklet contains information categorized under 14 topics, namely, Country Profile; Key Economic Indicators; Country Comparisons; Socio Economic Conditions; Human Resources; National Accounts; Agriculture; Industry; Economic and Social Infrastructure; Prices and Wages; External Trade and Tourism; External Finance; Government Finance; and Money Banking and Finance.

As the data folder presents a wide range of socio economic data of current interest in summary form, it will be a very useful reference material for policy makers, researchers, academics, professionals, students and the general public.