Sri Lanka's import bill rises despite restrictions

Colombo (News 1st): Sri Lanka's import bill has risen significantly so far this year despite restrictions. Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said Sri Lanka is growing at 7% per annum from the year 2006 to 2014. "Thereafter we did hit a fairly low patch, growth was stagnant. But at the same time, we should not be discouraged by that," the CBSL Governor said. He said that getting back to a 6%+ growth is not difficult adding that it also must be ensured that exports revenue is improved. A Central Bank report shows Sri Lanka has spent nearly USD 15 billion on imports between January and September this year. This is higher than USD 11.7 billion spent within the same period last year. The Government had spent USD 2.6 billion to import fuel with a percentage of 36 increase from the amount spent on fuel imports last year. According to the CBSL report, the country had only generated USD 8.9 billion through exports in the first 9 months of this year. Textile and garments were the most exported products. As the imports were higher than the exports, the deficit in the trade account had widened to USD 6 billion in the first nine months. The deficit during the same period last year stood at USD 4.3 billion,