Sri Lanka's trade deficit widens

Sri Lanka's trade deficit widened to $702.9 million in May from $469.7 million a year earlier, central bank data showed on Wednesday. Exports for the month were $882.5 million, down 0.1 percent from a year earlier. Imports rose 17.2 percent to $1.59 billion. The trade deficit for the first five months widened 10.2 percent to $3.4 billion. Sri Lanka's balance of payments showed a $1.31 billion deficit for the first five months of this year, compared with a $1.67 billion surplus in the same period last year.