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Sri Lanka’s merchandise export earnings surpass $1bn mark in September

Sri Lanka’s merchandize exports have surpassed the $ 1 billion mark in September after July during this year,  the Export Development Board (EDB) said.

Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Prabhash Subhasinghe mentioned; “I am extremely pleased to see $1 Billion of exports in September. I salute the entire export community, our resilient businesses and all employees in the export sector for this remarkable performance. It is the 3rd time this year we have seen a year on year increase of merchandise exports. However, we are concerned about the recent escalation of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka but hopeful of a swift recovery and a stable level of business continuity. Our businesses must continue to be resilient whilst facing the unknown and must have strong COVID-19 preventive measures in order to bring in the much-needed foreign currency for Sri Lanka.”

As per the Customs statistics, earnings from merchandise exports recorded a positive growth of 5.16% in September 2020 to US$ 1,001.27 Mn as compared to the value of US$ 952.1 Mn recorded in September 2019. This strong performance is consistent with the gradual lifting of restrictions due to Covid 19 pandemic within the country and globally. Increases in exports were recorded as; Europe Region (20.19%), CIS Countries (19.59%) and African Region (56.4%) in September 2020 compared to September 2019. Moreover, earnings from merchandise exports in September 2020 increased by 5.65 % compared with the value recorded in August 2020.