Minister of Trade Bandula Gunawardana says Sri Lanka’s exports increased by 23% amidst a challenging environment both locally and globally.
Taking to Twitter the Minister said total exports in 2020 were US$ 12.3 billion while exports in 2021 were US$ 15.12 billion.
Minister Gunawardana speaking to media said for the first time in history, in 2021, the country earned USD 12.5 billion, surpassing the USD 12 billion mark earned through exports.
The Trade Minister added this is a 24% increase in comparison to the export target of 2020.
He claimed accordingly, the monthly trade export revenue has crossed USD 1 billion mark in the first eight months of 2021.
Minister Gunawardana also thanked exporters for achieving the expected target of USD 15.1 billion in exports of Sri Lankan goods and services for 2021.
He claimed that export earnings when the good governance government took over at the end of 2014 were USD 11.1 billion.
The Minister said the former government engaged in many tactics to increase export earnings, and only managed to increase earnings to USD 11.9 billion during their five-year term, and charged that the former government did not face an economic or health crisis.
