Sri Lanka's trade deficit for January-May ballooned to $2.58 billion, nearly double the same period last year, due to costly oil imports, the central bank said on Friday. The island nation has been struggling to pay high global oil prices, which have hit levels above $147 per barrel, compared with the government's 2008 budget estimate of $85 per barrel.
The trade deficit in May widened to $512.2 million from $375.5 million a year earlier, central bank data showed. Exports in May, led by garments, tea and other agricultural products, rose 17 percent from a year earlier to $745.9 million.
May imports rose 24.2 percent to $1.26 billion. Petroleum imports rose 75.7 percent in the first five months of the year to $1.45 billion, which accounted for 25 percent of the total import bill of $5.81 billion. High oil prices boosted the island nation's April trade deficit to $659 million, the highest monthly deficit since data was available in 2002.
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