(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – The tourism sector, which suffered a setback following the Easter Sunday attacks, has since recorded a faster than expected recovery, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said.
Tourism in Sri Lanka took a severe beating following the Easter Sunday attacks in which several tourists were among those killed.
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 26 December 2019, noted the tourism sector has since recorded a faster than expected recovery, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said in a statement today.
The Monetary Board also noted that performance on the trade front continued to improve during the first ten months of 2019 with imports contracting considerably and merchandise exports recording a modest growth, thereby leading to a cumulative contraction in the deficit in the trade account.
Provisional data suggests a significantly lower current account deficit in the first nine months of 2019 compared to the corresponding period of 2018.
Workers’ remittances were somewhat low, while outflows of foreign investment were observed from the Government securities market and the equity market during the year.
Nevertheless, the Sri Lankan rupee appreciated against the US dollar by 0.7 per cent thus far during 2019, with mixed movements being recorded throughout the year. Meanwhile, gross official reserves remained at US dollars 7.5 billion by end November 2019, which were sufficient to cover 4.5 months of imports.
