COLOMBO, Dec 14: Sri Lanka’s trade deficit widened to $2.13bn in the first 10 months of this year on high oil import prices, but the balance of payments showed a surplus, the Central Bank said on Wednesday. Sri Lanka spent $7.35 billion on imports from January to October this year, up 14.4 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier, while exports earned $5.22bn, up 10.4 per cent. The import bill rose mainly because of higher international oil prices.—AFP
