Apparel is Sri Lanka’s largest industrial export and earned $5.95 billion in 2022, helping the country as it weathered its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948, triggered by a record reduction in foreign exchange reserves.

But the industry’s first-quarter performance in 2023 has struggled with textiles and garment exports dropping 13.8% to $1.3 billion, data from Sri Lanka’s central bank showed.

Exports in March marked the lowest in three years, said Yohan Lawrence, Secretary General of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), which is the industry’s apex body.

Shipments to the Unites States, the country’s biggest buyer, dropped by 22% to $470 million in the first quarter