Sri Lanka runs US$ 929mn BOP deficit up to April 2021
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka has run a US$ 929 million balance of payments (BOP) deficit up to April 2021, amid continued money printing, after running a record US$ 2.3 billion BOP deficit in 2021, official data show.
Sri Lanka’s BOP deficit was US$ 1.1 billion up to March 2021. In April Sri Lanka got a US$ 500 million loan from China Development Bank.
In 2021 the Central Bank’s Treasury bill stock has gone up by Rs 171 billion with reserve money growing from Rs 66 billion to Rs 1,031 billion. However, Sri Lanka began the year with Rs 266 billion of excess liquidity from money printed in 2020, which had still not flowed out as imports or loan repayments.
Sri Lanka has set a non-credible soft-peg around Rs 200 to the US dollar and it is mostly defended through financial account payments.
Despite severe import controls, total imports rose to US$ 1.9 billion in March and US$ 1.7 billion in April, in areas deemed suitable by bureaucrats, while items such as cars, which bring high revenues are no longer imported.
Analysts have warned that money is fungible and import controls are not effective as long as credit continues to grow.
-economynext.com