Sri Lanka’s export sector fears uncertainty

While the Central Bank devalued the rupee on Wednesday, a move that should have been implemented sometime back before the present fuel and power crisis crippled the economy, exporters’ fear Sri Lanka will now lose its credibility in the international market.

The fuel and power crisis have compelled factories to shut down or rather delays in transportation have led to interruptions in meeting deadlines. Exporters fear the government is not showing any kind of confidence or taking any immediate solution to curb the problem.

On Monday, 15 export sector chambers and associations had a joint media briefing at the Renuka Hotel in Colombo to discuss the problems different industries are facing during these challenging times.

When the Business Times spoke to Ravi Dadlani from the Sri Lanka Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Rubber Products ( following the depreciation of the rupee on Wednesday), he said, “Not devaluing the rupee was the root cause for the crisis we are in today. The impact of doing this now will be seen in the next couple of days. There are short periods of power cuts yet in certain areas where factories are located and the fuel shortage still exists.” The

Government’s decision to ban import of luxury non-essential goods is also a good move towards recovering from the crisis, he added.

Joint Apparel Associations Forum Secretary General, Yohan Lawrence also told the Business Times that there has been a significant reduction in power cuts since Monday. The country’s situation is slowly easing with fuel supplies getting back to normalcy or less congested at fuel stations. “Allowing the rupee to float is the step in the right direction. This will definitely encourage worker remittances to come in and help Sri Lanka alleviate the dollar crisis. But the interest rates remain untouched,” he noted.

He also mentioned that if the export sector industries are kept operational without a shortage in fuel and move forward with no interruptions, Sri Lanka will be on the path of recovery.

During the event on

Monday one of the exporters stressed that not all equipment in a factory could run with the aid of a generator, while not all production and manufacturing plants could be kept shut down for more than seven hours. “The government did not have to wait for this long for a crisis to occur and then take baby steps to find solutions,” an exporter noted.

An apparel exporter pointed out that the fuel shortage has a massive impact on exports due to transportation delays while disruptions are happening from one end to another. “Sri Lanka has built a reputation of delivering on time to the global importers. And if we don’t meet their demands now, there are other markets waiting to grab the opportunity and break business interests with Sri Lanka. This could be the worst to happen at a time when exports have been growing sharply from year 2020 to 2021 amidst the pandemic.”

This could be the worst to happen at a time when exports have been growing sharply from year 2020 to 2021 amidst the pandemic.”