Sri Lanka’s rupee closed at 336.00 buying / 337.00 selling against the US dollar in the spot market on Thursday, weaker from 332.25/75 the previous day, dealers said, while bond yields closed broadly steady.
The telegraphic transfer rate for the rupee against the US dollar was 328.00 buying / 337.00 selling. Against the euro the rupee was quoted at 376.4077 selling, 390.3247 buying, and against the pound sterling at 437.9428 buying, 451.9884 selling.
A bond maturing on July 1, 2028 closed at 11.75/85 percent. A bond maturing on December 15, 2029 closed at 12.00/15 percent. A bond maturing on August 1, 2030 closed at 12.10/25 percent, down from 12.25/40 percent, while a bond maturing on March 15, 2035 closed at 13.00/30 percent, up from 13.00/20 percent.
The latest spot close reverses Wednesday’s brief two-percent strengthening and resumes the broader depreciation trend. The Central Bank told Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance on Tuesday that import expenditure for fuel and vehicles, lower tourism inflows, possible delays in export earnings conversion and importers bringing forward foreign-exchange purchases had been driving recent pressure on the rupee, Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said at the briefing.
The Middle East conflict has pushed Sri Lanka’s fuel import bill higher even before the latest escalation, and the rupee’s weakening Thursday came on a day that saw fresh US strikes on Iran and Iran’s full closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Source: EconomyNext.
