Sri Lanka’s earnings from exports in November 2021 recorded the highest ever - monthly export value in history, the Central Bank said yesterday. Reflecting the favourable impact of increased exports, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed to US$ 553 million in November 2021 compared to US$ 600 million in November 2020, the CB said. This development was also in the light of that while marking the sixth consecutive month of above US$ 1.0 billion of exports, the Central Bank said yesterday. Import expenditure also increased at a higher rate in November 2021.
Reflecting the favourable impact of increased exports, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed to US$ 553 million in November 2021 compared to US$ 600 million in November 2020. Tourist arrivals continued to gather momentum with a notable increase over the previous month, showing strong signs of revival. A further moderation of workers’ remittances was observed in November 2021. The weighted average spot exchange rate in the inter-bank market continued to hover around Rs. 202 per US dollar during the month.