Despite the year-on-year decline recorded during the previous two months, Sri Lankan export earnings from textiles and garments increased by 2.6 per cent to $453 million in March 2017, reflecting increased demand from the EU market. On a cumulative basis, however, export earnings during the first three months of 2017 continue to be negative.

During January-March 2017, textiles and garment exports from Sri Lanka declined by 6.8 per cent to $1.275 billion compared to exports of $1.369 billion in the corresponding period of the last year, according to the data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Clothing exports alone accounted for $1.201 billion in January-March 2017, showing a decrease of 7.2 per cent year-on-year.

Textiles and apparel accounted for about 60.56 per cent of all industrial exports made by the South Asian nation during the three-month period, the data showed.

Sri Lanka’s expenditure on imports of textiles and textile articles also decreased 4.5 per cent to $666.7 million in January-March 2017, as against imports valued at $698.5 million in the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the central bank’s report on ‘External Sector Performance – March 2017’.

The island nation earned $4.884 billion in textiles and apparel exports in 2016, registering a growth of mere 1.3 per cent year-on-year. Of this, clothing exports alone accounted for $4.602 billion, up 1 per cent over previous year’s earnings of $4.555 billion. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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