The Sri Lankan rupee has been identified as the worst-performing currency in Asia this month, according to a report by a global business news platform cited by Ada Derana.
The report said the rupee had weakened significantly against the US dollar in recent days and warned that the currency could depreciate further.
Professor Wasantha Athukorala of the Department of Economics and Statistics at the University of Peradeniya said the rapid depreciation of the rupee within a short period posed a serious risk to the country’s economy. He warned that inflation could rise sharply if urgent measures were not taken to control the situation.
Opposition MP Ravi Karunanayake claimed that the government had no proper mechanism in place to prevent the rupee from depreciating further. Former MP Piyal Nishantha said both the government and opposition should work together to take immediate action to address the prevailing economic crisis.
Responding to concerns over the issue, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on Tuesday that the depreciation of the rupee would be temporary and urged the public to face the situation with resilience.
The “Asia’s worst performer” framing follows a sustained slide in which People’s Bank’s selling rate hit a published cycle high of Rs. 346.50 on 20 May. Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe had earlier characterised the rupee slide as a 4.8% year-to-date move, smaller than India’s 6.4% — but markets have continued to move against the rupee since that briefing. Importer associations have warned that sugar, dhal and rice prices will rise as the cost of dollar-denominated cargoes feeds through.
Source: Ada Derana.
