Sri Lankan rupee closed steady at 176.00/25 per dollar on Thursday as banks' dollar sales offset the importer greenback demand. The rupee rose 0.17% last week, and is up 3.75% so far this year. The rupee dropped 16% in 2018 and was one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia. The island nation raised $2 billion via 5-year and 10-year sovereign bond sales last week, tapping global capital markets for the second time in three months.
Foreign investors bought a net 2.26 billion rupees worth of government securities in the week ended June 26, but the island nation's net foreign outflow was at 18.4 billion rupees so far this year, the central bank data showed. The central bank cut its key interest rates on May 31 to support a faltering economy as overall business and consumer confidence slumped following deadly bomb attacks in April.
Sri Lanka is unlikely to hit its full-year economic growth target of 3-4% following Easter Sunday bombings and a Reuters poll has forecast growth to slump to its lowest in nearly two decades this year. The launch of the Light Railway Transit (LRT) project late Wednesday lifted real-estate stocks, with Access engineering ending 4.11% higher, while Property Development PlC closing 4.79% firmer.
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