Industrial exports fell 15.5 percent to 467 million dollars dragged down by a 13.1 percent fall in earnings to 253 million dollars from the textiles industry, the bank said in a statement on the monthly trade performance.
The textiles industry is a key sector of the economy, generating a large number of jobs and being one of the top foreign exchange earners.
"Sri Lanka’s export sector had to face trying times amidst many uncertainties, as the US and other major export destination markets had been grappling with what has been dubbed as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s," the bank said.
"The lower demand for goods and services emanating from these countries has led export earnings to decline by 9.4 percent to 652 million dollars in September, 2008."
The central bank said a "commendable performance" in the traditional and minor agri