On a cumulative basis, however, export earnings during the first four months of 2017 continue to be negative.
During January-April 2017, textiles and garment exports from Sri Lanka declined by 4.9 per cent to $1.626 billion compared to exports of $1.709 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 $1.531 billion in January-April 2017, showing a decrease of 5.1 per cent year-on-year.
Textiles and apparel accounted for about 60.19 per cent of all industrial exports made by the South Asian nation during the four-month period, the data showed.
Sri Lanka’s expenditure on imports of textiles and textile articles also decreased 4 per cent year-on-year to $860.6 million in January-April 2017, as against imports valued at $896.8 million in the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the central bank’s report on ‘External Sector Performance – April 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