Sri Lanka spent US$ 4,072.1 million on fuel imports in the first eight months of 2026, a 61.6% increase on the same period last year — but the monthly bill has now fallen for four consecutive months, and August closed with the external current account back in surplus.

The country spent US$ 2,520.6 million on fuel over January–August 2025, meaning the bill has risen by US$ 1,551.5 million year-on-year, the Daily Mirror reported from Central Bank data. In August alone, fuel imports cost US$ 450.6 million, up 76.5% from US$ 255.2 million a year earlier. Refined petroleum accounted for US$ 321.9 million of that, against US$ 202.9 million in August 2025.

The monthly trend runs the other way

The headline increase is a year-on-year comparison, and it conceals a turn. Monthly fuel import expenditure declined for the fourth consecutive month in August, the Central Bank said in its External Sector Performance release for August 2026, published on 30 September.

That easing helped push the current account into a US$ 133 million surplus in August, after four straight monthly deficits. The surplus “was supported by the lower trade deficit compared to recent months, reflecting lower import expenditure,” the Central Bank said. Over January–August, however, the current account remained US$ 291 million in deficit, which the bank attributed to pressures from the escalation of the Middle East conflict.

The wider external picture

The cumulative trade deficit widened to US$ 7.2 billion over January–August 2026, from US$ 4.3 billion a year earlier, EconomyNext reported. Terms of trade deteriorated as import prices rose faster than export prices.

Other lines were mixed. Motor vehicle imports cost US$ 189 million in August, down 24.2% year-on-year, for a cumulative US$ 1,684 million. Workers’ remittances rose 10.0% to US$ 749 million in the month and 19.8% to US$ 6.1 billion for the eight months. Tourist arrivals fell 3.3% in August and tourism earnings for the period were down 10.0% at US$ 2.1 billion. Gross official reserves stood at US$ 6.9 billion at end-August, and the rupee had depreciated 6.3% against the dollar year-to-date by end-September.