Sri Lanka, July 19 -- The countries external sector remained relatively stable in May 2019 as the year-on-year trade deficit continued to narrow significantly in May 2019, the Central Bank reported in its External Sector Performance review for the month. In May 2019, the deficit in the trading account narrowed to US$ 823 million, compared to US$ 933 million in May 2018.

The considerable reduction in the trade deficit in May 2019 was attributed to a notable decline in year-on-year (YOY) import expenditure by 3.9 percent and an increase of export earnings by 4.0 percent. Earnings from merchandise exports grew by 4.0 percent in May 2019 to US$ 961 million compared with US$ 924 million in May 2018 due to an increase in industrial and agricul...