Imports of textiles and textile articles too dipped by 21.7 per cent to $1.665 billion, while clothing and accessories imports fell 24.8 per cent to $153.1 million during January-September 2020.

In September 2020, Sri Lanka’s earnings from textiles and garment exports fell by 3.7 per cent to $433.7 million, compared to exports of $450.2 million in the same month of 2019. " Earnings from the export of textiles and garments declined by 3.7 per cent on a year-on-year basis, with exports to the US reducing and exports to the EU increasing marginally," the central bank said in its report ‘External Sector Performance – September 2020’.

"The segments that marked a notable increase included personal protective equipment (PPE) products such as plastic clothing, masks and gloves, which are categorised under plastics and articles thereof, other made up textile articles under textiles and garments, and rubber products. The total increase in these three categories surpassed the decline in earnings from garment exports," the report said.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s expenditure on textiles and textile articles fell in September 2020 by 16.8 per cent year-on-year to $208.3 million, while clothing and accessories imports were down by 47.1 per cent to $15.4 million.

In 2019, Sri Lanka earned $5.596 billion in textiles and apparel exports, registering a growth of 5.2 per cent year-on-year. Of this, clothing exports alone accounted for $5.205 billion. On the other hand, imports increased by 1.8 per cent to $2.909 billion.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)