Sri Lankan rupee ends lower on importer dollar demand

10 Oct, 2017

The spot rupee ended at 153.43/48 per dollar, compared with Monday's close of 153.30/35.

"Today there was importer (dollar) demand throughout the day and we have seen some oil-related demand and demand from construction-related imports," said a currency dealer who did not wish to be named.

"There were not much of dollar selling today."

The rupee has been under pressure since January after the central bank stopped defending the currency and started buying the dollar to build up the country's depleted foreign currency reserves.

The island nation saw 20.6 billion rupees ($134.29 million) of net inflows into equities this year as of Tuesday's close, and 31.1 billion rupees worth inflows into government securities as of Oct. 4, official data showed.

Copyright Reuters, 2017

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