Sri Lanka's trade deficit doubles to record high

Sri Lanka's trade deficit doubled to a record $9.74 billion in 2011 year-on-year as increased imports of oil, consumer goods and capital items outpaced growth in exports, the central bank said on Friday. The trade gap in December widened 43.5 percent year-on-year to a record $1 billion.
Imports for the full year jumped 50.4 percent to a record $20.23 billion, while exports gained 22.4 percent to $10.49 billion. The imports rose 33.7 percent in December to $1.91 billion, while exports rose 24.3 percent to $905.5 million. The island nation's foreign exchange reserves, which the central bank spent to defend the rupee currency, fell 3.9 percent to $5.96 billion from $6.2 billion a month ago.