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July
exports reach record high this year
Following
the continuation of its impressive performance in the recent past,
exports earnings in July reached the highest monthly expansion in
2007, the Central Bank said yesterday.
It said exports grew by an impressive 34% to US dollars 690 million
in July 2007 as against the value of US dollars 516 million in July,
2006.
“The persistently strong demand for apparel has continued to
provide the basis for the strong trade performance in July 2007.
Apparel exports rose by 38.5% in July 2007 and were complemented
by the expanded market access in the EU countries,” the Bank
said.
Rubber based products moderated after rapid growth in recent previous
months. The higher exports of tea and revival of exports of vegetable
fats and oil preparations under the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement,
which had been lagging since June, 2006, also provided strong support
for growth of exports in July, 2007. As a result, the cumulative
exports during January to July grew by 15.8 % from US dollars 3,677
million in 2006 to US dollars 4,259 million in 2007.
The Bank also said that imports grew by 6.2% from US dollars 862
million in July, 2006 to US dollars 916 million in July, 2007. The
growth was primarily driven by intermediate and investment goods.
Textiles imports grew by 16.1% indicating a continuing growth momentum
in apparel exports. Despite lower imports of transport equipment,
the investment goods continued to grow at a higher rate in July
2007 mainly backed by imports of building materials.
Consumer
goods declined mainly due to lower imports of wheat and other consumer
goods, particularly, motor vehicles. The cumulative imports during
the first seven months grew by 4.3% from US dollars 5,818 million
in 2006 to US dollars 6,065 million in 2007.
The higher growth of exports over the growth of imports narrowed
the trade deficit in July, 2007. The trade deficit narrowed to US
dollars 225 million in this month compared to deficit of US dollars
347 million in July, 2006. The resulting overall trade deficit in
the first seven months of 2007 also narrowed down to US dollars
1,806 million as against US dollars 2,140 million in 2006. Private
remittances grew by 19.0% to US dollars 1,534 million during the
first seven months of 2007, particularly containing the current
account deficit.
The
overall balance of payments registered a surplus of US dollars 151
million and the gross official reserves stood at US dollars 2,681
million (3.0 months of imports) by end July 2007. The trade
performance is further illustrated in the following table.
External
Trade Performance – July 2007 and January-July 2007
Category
July2006 US$ mn July 2007
US$ mn Growth July % Jan- July 2006
US$ mn Jan- July 2007
US$ mn Growth Jan- July %
Exports 515.5 690.5 33.9 3,677.4 4,259.0 15.8
o/w Agriculture 107.3 135.5 26.3 713.6 795.6 11.5
o/w tea 70.7 92.1 30.3 494.6 530.5 7.2
Industrial 394.3 539.5 36.8 2,863.7 3342.2 16.7
o/w textiles and garment 226.6 313.9 38.5 1,606.3 1,894.7 18.0
Mineral 7.9 9.6 21.4 76.6 80.3 4.9
Imports 862.4 915.5 6.2 5,817.5 6,065.36 4.3
o/w Consumer Goods 153.2 144.1 -5.9 1,066.6 1,145.2 7.4
Intermediate Goods 518.9 550.1 6.0 3,434.7 3,438.7 0.1
o/w petroleum 210.3 242.9 15.5 1,249.5 1,200.7 -3.9
Investment Goods 186.5 218.3 17.0 1,271.9 1,418.5 11.5
Balance of Trade -346.9 -225.0 -35.1 -2,140.2 -1,806.3 -15.6
Worker Remittances 179.8 233.7 30.0 1,289.4 1,534.4 19.0
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