Sri Lank June exports up 32% to $816mn

Aug 29, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's June 2011 exports rose 32 percent to 816 million US dollars from a year ago helped up strong growth in shipments of apparel as well as tea and rubber, the central bank said.



Imports in June 2011 shot up 50 percent to 1.7 billion US dollars with a 66 percent increase in investment goods to 377 million US dollars, the bank said in a statement on the island's external trade.

The trade gap in June 2011 expanded 72 percent to 850 million US dollars from the previous year.

The cumulative earnings from exports during the first half of 2011 increased by 35.

2 percent to 5,057 million US dollars from the year before while expenditure on imports during the period rose 46.

5 percent to 9,307 million US dollars.

The trade deficit in the January - June 2011 period expanded to 4,250 million US dollars from the previous year.

Tea exports in June 2011 were up 11 percent to 116 million dollars from the previous year while shipments of garments, the island's main industrial export, went up 37 percent to 332 million dollars.

"Growth in export earnings in June 2011 was led by the industrial exports, particularly textiles and garments and rubber products," the statement sa