Friday Jan 02, 2026
Friday Jan 02, 2026
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The current account swung back to a surplus of $ 81.7 million in November 2025, reversing deficits recorded in September and October, although the year-to-date (YTD) surplus narrowed to $ 1.67 billion by end-November amid faster import growth, rising vehicle imports, and a widening trade deficit, data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) showed.
The current account surplus in November was $ 81.7 million, following a deficit of $ 199.5 million in October and a $ 183 million deficit in September 2025.
According to the CBSL External Sector Performance – November 2025 report, the cumulative current account remained in surplus YTD end-November at $ 1.67 billion, a 2.2% decrease from a year ago. However, the surplus has contracted from $ 1.9 billion for YTD end-September 2025, which was up 29% from $ 1.43 billion a year ago.
The YTD end-November surplus comes on moderate growth in merchandise and services exports and tourism earnings and higher worker remittances, according to the CBSL.
Merchandise trade dynamics continue to shift, with the trade deficit increasing in October 2025 to $ 730.7 million, up from $ 502 million a year ago, as imports growth outpaced exports.
Imports in October rose by 18.9% year-on-year (YoY) to $ 1.78 billion, while in the first 11 months, the growth was 14.2% to $ 19.32 billion. Exports was up 5.4% YoY to $ 1.05 billion in October, and up by 6.4% in the first 11 months to $ 12.4 billion.
The CBSL said that vehicle imports amounted to $ 281 million in November, with cumulative inflows rising to $ 1,746 million in the first 11 months of 2025.
The terms of trade deteriorated in November as import prices increased at a faster pace than export prices on a YoY basis.
Net inflows from services recorded a marginal 1.7% increase, reaching around $ 3.36 billion during January to November 2025. The net inflow was down 7.8% YoY to $ 270 million in November 2025.
Tourist arrivals increased in November on both month-on-month (MoM) and YoY bases. Tourism earnings rose fell 7.8% YoY to $ 252 million during the month, and cumulative earnings for January to November recorded a 3.7% YoY increase to $ 2.9 billion.
Workers’ remittances posted the highest monthly inflow since December 2020. Cumulative inflows during January to November recorded a 20.7% YoY increase to $. 7.2 billion. Remittances were up 27% YoY to $ 673 million in November.
Foreign investment in Government securities continued to record net inflows in November, although down 79% YoY to $ 4.3 million, while foreign investments in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), covering both primary and secondary markets, recorded net outflows amounting to $ 12 million, compared to a $ 10.6 million outflow a year ago.
Gross official reserves, including the swap facility with the People’s Bank of China, stood at around $ 6 billion by end-November, amidst external debt service payments, CBSL said.
The rupee recorded a 5.6% depreciation against the US dollar on a YTD basis by end-November.
