Economy

U.S. offers tariff-free access for up to 80% of Sri Lankan exports

Published

4 months ago

July 18, 2025

The United States has offered to allow 70 to 80 percent of Sri Lankan exports to enter the U.S. market without tariffs, Economic Development Deputy Minister Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando said.

The offer was made during ongoing trade discussions between the two countries, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decision to impose reciprocal tariffs on nations with significant trade deficits with the U.S.

Speaking on a television program today, Prof. Fernando revealed that the U.S. has proposed a list of 1,161 Sri Lankan export products to be considered for duty-free access, including major exports such as apparel and 42 items related to the agricultural sector.

However, the Deputy Minister noted that the specifics of the proposal cannot be publicly disclosed at this stage, as the discussions are still in progress and governed by diplomatic protocols.

“These matters are technical and sensitive. While the offer is significant, the full details of the potential agreement will be shared only once negotiations are finalized,” he added.

Economy

Sri lanka’s domestic exports rise by 5.2%

Published

1 day ago

November 6, 2025

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The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) reports that domestic exports of goods and materials have grown by 5.2% during the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period in 2024.

According to official data, export earnings for the period reached US$ 10,215.1 million, up from US$ 9,518.1 million recorded last year.

The increase reflects a steady improvement in the country’s export performance, supported by higher demand and stronger production across key sectors.

Economy

SriLankan Airlines group loses Rs10.7bn in three months, operating losses up

Published

4 days ago

November 3, 2025

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State-run SriLankan Airlines group has lost 10.7 billion rupees in the three months to June 2025, down from 12.9 billion rupees last year but operating losses had widened, despite improvement in traffic, a Finance Ministry report said.

SriLankan had posted revenues of 51.7 billion rupees, up 1.5 billion rupees in the June quarter, helped by high higher traffic volumes and a big improvement in load factor to 82.3 percent a from 74.8 last year.

The airline had carried more than one million passengers across 3,217 flights during the quarter, with traffic growing 23 percent, the report said.

But cargo revenue had declined 13 percent to 7.1 billion rupees, and other revenues had also fallen, bringing net traffic revenues to 62.7 billion rupees, down from 63.8 billion rupees last year.SriLankan Airlines group loses Rs10.7bn in three months, operating losses up

Economy

Sri Lanka is the second most expensive country in South Asia to live in

Published

5 days ago

November 2, 2025

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Sri Lanka is the second most expensive South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) country to live with cost of living for an individual being $506 or Rs. 153,899 excluding rent to live a comfortable life according to Numbeo, a user-generated cost-of-living statistics website.

According to the website for a family of four living in the city of Colombo, the monthly costs are Rs. 570,997 excluding rent to live comfortably. This includes the cost of childcare, groceries, outings, dining, school fees, house expenses, vehicle expenses etc.

Numbeo is the world’s largest cost of living database and a crowd sourced global resource for quality of life data. It provides insights into cost of living. According to the site Maldives is considered the most expensive SAARC country to live in comfortably with a cost of $840.4 per person.

Source – Dailymirror