CBSL issues economic report card for first quarter

COLOMBO (News 1^st) - The Central Bank issuing statistics on the first quarter of 2018 says the external sector of the country displayed a mixed performance in March. Exports have increased by 7.7% during the first quarter of 2018 to 2989 million US Dollars in comparison 2774 million US Dollars during the same time frame last year. Imports have risen by 13.1% to 5971 million US Dollars during the first quarter of 2018 while the value stood at 5279 million US dollars during the first quarter of last year. The Trade gap thereby stood at -2982 million US dollars in the first three months of 2018. That value was at -2505 million US dollars in the same time frame in 2017. Tourist arrivals increased by 24.1% in March 2018 as a result of higher numbers of tourists arriving from India, the United Kingdom, and Germany in comparison to March 2017. Total tourist arrivals during the first quarter of 2018 was at 707,924 a 17% increase over the first quarter of 2017. The Central Bank notes Workers’ remittances notably increased to US dollars 678 million in March 2018, reversing the decline observed during February 2018. Accordingly, workers’ remittances increased by 3.5% to US dollars 1,979 million during the first quarter of 2018 in comparison to the corresponding period of 2017