COLOMBO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's economy grew 3.7 percent in the first quarter of 2019 from a year earlier, helped by a strong growth from the agriculture sector, local media reports, quoting the Department of Census and Statistics said here Thursday.

The agriculture sector grew 5.5 percent from a year earlier, while the industrial sector grew 3 percent and the services sector expanded 4.1 percent.

Among the sub-activities of Agriculture, growing of rice expanded by 13.1 percent in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of 2018 while growing of oleaginous fruits including coconut achieved an outstanding growth rate of 35.6 percent in the first quarter compared to the recorded negative growth rate of 15.7 percent in the first quarter 2018.

In industrial activities, the sub-activities of construction and mining and quarrying grew by 6.9 percent and 5.8 percent respectively.

Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera last week said the island country's economic growth was expected to get back on track in the coming months following the setback suffered from the Easter Sunday terror explosions.

Sri Lanka's Central Bank has forecast an overall GDP growth of 3 to 3.5 percent for 2019. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have also predicted an optimistic growth rate of 3.5 percent.