Sri Lanka rupee, bonds open steady

ECONOMYNEXT – The Sri Lanka rupee was steady Wednesday at 182.60/70 rupees against the US dollar in early spot market trading, market participants said.

The rupee ended Tuesday weaker at 182.65/70 rupees against the greenback, down from the previous day’s 182.25/35 closing.

On Tuesday banks borrowed 84.9 billion rupees at 9 percent from the Central Bank’s overnight window, down from 97.9 billion rupees on Monday and Friday’s 115.03 billion rupees, to meet a liquidity crunch created by the Central Bank’s currency defence.

Bond yields were steady in early secondary market trading.

A bond maturing in 2021 was trading at a slightly broader range at 11.28/35 percent in two-way quotes compared to the previous closing of 11.30/35 percent.

A bond maturing in 2026 was trading at 11.60/65 percent in early trading, compared to Tuesday’s closing of 11.60/62 percent. (COLOMBO, 09 January 2019)