In September 2019, Sri Lanka’s earnings from textiles and garment exports remained negative and the island nation earned $450.2 million from textiles and clothing exports, registering a decrease of 5.5 per cent over exports of $476.2 million during the same month of 2018. “Earnings from textiles and garments declined for the first time since July 2018, on a year-on-year basis, led by a notable decline of 13.9 per cent of garment exports to the US owing to the base effect, despite a 3.2 per cent growth in exports to the EU market,” the central bank said in its report ‘External Sector Performance – September 2019’.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s expenditure on textiles and textile articles increased in September 2019 by 7.1 per cent year-on-year to $250.3 million, and clothing and accessories imports were up by 28.4 cent to $29.2 million. “Import expenditure on textiles and textile articles and mineral products increased, with higher fabric imports and cement clinker imports, respectively,” the central bank said.
In 2018, Sri Lanka earned $5.317 billion in textiles and apparel exports, registering a growth of 5.7 per cent year-on-year. Of this, clothing exports alone accounted for $4.960.8 billion. On the other hand, imports increased by 4.9 per cent to $2.858 billion.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (PC)