The Sri Lanka rupee ended weaker for a second straight day on Thursday as importer dollar demand outpaced inflows from remittances and exporters' greenback sales, dealers said. The rupee ended at 130.24/28 per dollar, weaker from the previous close of 130.20/22 and moving further away from Tuesday's close of 130.18/20, its highest since June 28, 2013.
"Rupee is weaker on importer dollar demand but it will start gaining next week," on continuing inflows, said a currency dealer, asking not to be named. Yields in treasury bills edged down further at a weekly auction on Wednesday. An official from the central bank's international operations department told Reuters on Tuesday that the bank was buying dollars from the market to curb excess volatility as there had been continuous inflows in the last few weeks. The official said the rupee would have appreciated to around 125 rupees per dollar levels had the central bank not intervened.