The Sri Lankan rupee weakened further on Friday, with retail selling rates at major commercial banks approaching Rs. 332 to the US dollar even as interbank quotes held below Rs. 327.

People’s Bank quoted the dollar at Rs. 325.21 buying and Rs. 332.39 selling, up from Rs. 323.73 and Rs. 330.87 on Thursday. Commercial Bank moved to Rs. 323.23 / Rs. 331.75, Sampath Bank to Rs. 325.25 / Rs. 331.75 and Seylan Bank to Rs. 322.35 / Rs. 331.10. NDB Bank quoted Rs. 324.25 / Rs. 330.75.

Interbank dealers quoted the rupee at Rs. 325.25 / Rs. 326.25 to the dollar on Friday, EconomyNext reported. Telegraphic transfer rates were Rs. 323.50 buying and Rs. 330.50 selling. There was no spot quote offered the previous day. Government bond yields were broadly steady, with the September 2029 maturity edging up to 9.95/10.00 percent.

The rupee has now fallen more than 5% since the start of 2026, taking it back to a level last seen in early 2022, EconomyNext said in a separate explainer. Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe has attributed the slide to global factors — a stronger US dollar and shifting commodity prices — rather than the kind of domestic mismanagement that drove the 2022 collapse.

Even so, EconomyNext flagged real-economy spillovers. April headline inflation rose to 5.4% from 2.2% in March on the back of sharp fuel-price increases, and the latest depreciation has yet to be passed through to prices. Higher import bills are likely to feed through to medicines, fuel and debt servicing in dollar-denominated form.

The current move comes after the CBSL became a net dollar seller in April for the first time in 22 months, intervening to smooth volatility tied to higher oil-import costs and the Middle East conflict. The Asian Development Bank has separately warned that rupee weakness amplifies the oil-import shock, while pharmacy distributors have flagged stress on medicine pricing and supply tied to the slide.

CBSL operates a flexible inflation-targeting regime in which the exchange rate is set by market demand and supply, with the central bank intervening only to limit sharp swings and to build reserves.

Sources: Newswire; EconomyNext — rupee quoted at 325.25/326.25; EconomyNext — explainer: ripple effect of sharp depreciation.