The gross official reserves which stood at USD 8.8 billion by end last September, has grown to USD 08 billion by 30 November 2015, says the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) in its Monetary Policy released for November 2015.

The CBSL adds further that the Sri Lankan Rupee has depreciated by 8.1 per cent as against the the US dollar.

The bank’s Monetary Board has decided that the current monetary policy stance of the Central Bank is appropriate and hence the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) should be unchanged at 6.00 per cent and 7.50 per cent respectively.

The latest data of the CBSL further indicates in the external sector, the decline in expenditure on imports in September 2015 was greater than the decline in earnings from exports, thus narrowing the deficit in the trade account by 4.1 per cent to US dollars 733 million. However, on a cumulative basis, trade deficit widened during the first nine months of the year by 3.8 per cent to US dollars 6,145 million, driven by the continued increase in non-oil imports.

Recent policy measures taken by the Central Bank and the government coupled with the policy measures announced in the Budget for 2016 are expected to curtail certain imports, particularly motor vehicles, thereby easing the pressure on the external sector.

Meanwhile, earnings from tourism in the first ten months of 2015 are estimated to have grown by 17.9 per cent, strengthening the external current account, while workers’ remittances recorded a moderate growth of 1.8 per cent in the first nine months of the year.

Gross official reserves, which stood at US dollars 6.8 billion at end September 2015, are estimated to have strengthened to around US dollars 8.0 billion by 03 November 2015 with the receipts from the ninth International Sovereign Bond issuance for US dollars 1.5 billion.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka rupee has depreciated by 8.1 per cent against the US dollar so far in 2015.