October export earnings resilient despite virus snags

Basil Rajapaksa

• Preliminary data shows US $ 900mn earnings, with US $ 600mn coming from Gampaha district 
• Cumulative 10-month earnings rise to US $ 8.3bn, narrows YoY gap to 16% 
• Task force Chair insists on facilitating uninterrupted functioning of factories in curfew areas 
• Confides of ability to return to normalcy, provided if everyone follows strict guidelines this week  

Sri Lanka’s export sector has once again shown its resilience to help keep the economy humming, as it generated near billion dollar earnings for the fifth consecutive month, albeit some slowdown was seen compared to the previous couple of months. 

Sri Lanka has earned export earnings of US $ 900 million for October, compared to US $ 1,001 million in September, the preliminary data announced by Presidential Task Force for Economic Revival and Eradicating Poverty Chairman Basil Rajapaksa showed. 

In October 2019, Sri Lanka’s export earnings were US $ 977 million. Hence, the October earnings recorded this year is still commendable, as the exporters were operating amid a pandemic. 

“Today, we have received our export sector performance for October. Despite some slowdown, the sector has earned a higher figure of US $ 900 million in income,” Rajapaksa said on Monday, addressing the task force comprising of legislators and other officials, to apprise them of the need to support those individuals whose livelihoods and businesses disrupted in 
curfew-imposed areas.  

“During the last two months, we earned incomes exceeding the incomes during the same two months last year. In the Gampaha district alone, its factories have generated an income in excess of US $ 600 million,” Rajapaksa said, adding that the government is doing everything to facilitate uninterrupted operation of the factories in the export-oriented sectors. 

With the October earnings, the cumulative 10-month earnings from exports are now at US $ 8.3 billion, compared to US $ 9.9 billion in the corresponding period in 2019. 

This further narrows the export earnings gap between the two periods to 16 percent, from 17 percent through September. 

At the meeting, Rajapaksa insisted the significance and need to continuously support the self-employed and businesses to function uninterrupted, as the lockdowns take a heavy economic toll on them, which may be very difficult to rebuild. 

“If you throw away a vegetable truck, how does he find money to buy the next vegetable stock? Once you close down a factory, resuming operations is very difficult. How do the street vendors resume their livelihoods the next day, if they have to throw away what they bring to the streets to sell today? This is why we try to prevent the virus from spreading into other provinces because if it spreads, it is very difficult to rebuild the lives of those who get affected. “Our thinking is that we must help as much as possible to facilitate these institutions to continue to function according to the health guidelines. We must ensure that nobody loses his job because of the pandemic,” he added.

He also asked the employers not to let anyone stay at home, just because they receive the Rs.5,000 stipend. 
“What the health authorities say is that, if we conduct ourselves according to the guidelines during the next seven days, we can prevent this disease from spreading,” he confided.