Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe (2nd, L) arrives at the parliament complex for the inauguration of the fifth session of the ninth parliament in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 7, 2024. The president said at the inauguration that there has been a significant turnaround in the nation's economic landscape.(Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua)
COLOMBO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's official reserve assets have increased by 2.3 percent to around 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in January compared to December, according to the data released by the central bank on Wednesday.
According to the data, Sri Lanka's foreign currency reserves have increased to 4.4 billion dollars in January from 4.3 billion dollars in December.
Sri Lanka suffered a shortage of foreign exchange with its official reserve assets standing at around 1.8 billion dollars in April 2022 when the country announced the suspension of foreign debt repayments.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said at the inauguration of the fifth session of the ninth parliament on Wednesday that there has been a significant turnaround in the nation's economic landscape.
Presenting his policy statement, Wickremesinghe said that despite the 1.9 percent gross domestic product (GDP) deficit in 2022, Sri Lanka achieved a surplus by the end of 2023, marking the first such occurrence since 1977. ■
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe (L) arrives at the parliament complex for the inauguration of the fifth session of the ninth parliament in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 7, 2024. The president said at the inauguration that there has been a significant turnaround in the nation's economic landscape.(Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua)
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe (L) arrives at the parliament complex for the inauguration of the fifth session of the ninth parliament in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 7, 2024. The president said at the inauguration that there has been a significant turnaround in the nation's economic landscape.(Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua)