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