Sri Lanka’s Dec trade deficit widens sharply on year
Posted on February 25th, 2015
Reuters report says Sri Lanka’s trade deficit widened 39.8 percent to $787.6 million in December from $563.4 million a year earlier, central bank data showed on Wednesday.
December exports edged up 2.2 percent from a year earlier to $1.01 billion, surpassing the $1-billion mark, while imports gained 15.9 percent to $1.8 billion.
For 2014, the trade deficit widened 9.1 percent to $8.3 billion from $7.61 billion a year earlier, while the $76-billion economy recorded a balance-of-payment surplus of $1.38 billion last year, up from $985.4 million in 2013. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)