External Merchandise Trade Fourth quarter 2018

Total exports for the fourth quarter of 2018 amounted to Rs 21,295 million, 6.4 % higher compared, to the corresponding quarter of 2017 and 1.7 % higher compared to the previous quarter of 2018.

Imports

Total imports for the fourth quarter of 2018 amounted to Rs 54,974 million, higher by 5.7 % compared to the corresponding quarter of 2017 and 8.9 % compared to the previous quarter of 2018.

Balance of trade

The trade deficit for the fourth quarter of 2018 works out to Rs 33,679 million, 5.3% higher than the deficit of Rs 31,999 million for the corresponding quarter of 2017. Compared to the previous quarter of 2018, the deficit was higher by 14.0 %.  

Forecast 2019

Based on recent trends and information from various sources, total imports (including one-off items such as aircraft, wind turbines and metro trains) are forecasted at around Rs 212,000 million and total exports will be at around Rs 83,000 million for the year 2019. The trade deficit is therefore expected to be around Rs 129,000 million in 2019.