CBSL begins publishing monthly external sector current account stats

Tuesday, 4 March 2025 03:37 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Current account achieves higher surplus of $ 130.2 m in January 2025 compared to $ 81 m a year ago due to improvement in surplus in services and secondary income accounts despite wider trade deficit

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has begun publishing the monthly external sector current account statistics starting from January 2025.

“This is the first time current account statistics are published on a monthly basis,” the CBSL added.

It said Sri Lanka’s external sector continued its positive momentum in January 2025, supported by robust inflows on account of services exports, tourism, and workers’ remittances despite an expansion in the trade deficit. The current account recorded a higher surplus of $ 130.2 million for January 2025 compared to $ 81 million in January 2024 due to the improvement in the surplus in the services and secondary income accounts despite the wider trade deficit.

The growth of import expenditure by 18% to $ 1.78 billion outpaced the growth in export earnings by 8.5% to $ 1 billion, widening the merchandise trade deficit year-on-year (YoY) in January 2025.

The terms of trade improved in January 2025, as the increase in export prices exceeded the increase in import prices compared to January 2024.

Earnings from tourism improved to an estimated $ 401 million in January 2025, with arrivals recording the historically highest monthly level for any of January.

Workers’ remittances continued the growth trend in January 2025 (up 17.5% YoY). Based on the provisional data, total departures for foreign employment were recorded at 25,536 during the month of January 2025.

Foreign investments in the Government securities market recorded net inflows, while foreign investments in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) recorded net outflows (including primary and secondary markets) during the month.

Gross Official Reserves (GOR) remained healthy at $ 6.1 billion by end-January 2025. GOR includes the swap facility with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).

Following a depreciation in January 2025, the Sri Lankan Rupee has appreciated in February 2025.

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