Sri Lankan rupee forwards ended marginally weaker on Monday due to importer dollar demand while selling of the greenback by a foreign bank capped further weakening of the local currency, dealers said. The spot rupee was not traded as banks were reluctant to trade it below 144.00 levels amid moral suasion by the central bank. Central bank officials were not available for comments.
Dealers said the one-week forward, which acted as a proxy for the spot currency, ended at 144.40/45 per dollar, compared with Friday's close of 144.30/40. "The (importer) demand was there. But the pressure eased with remittance to a foreign bank," said a dealer asking not to be named. Central bank officials were not available for comments.
The rupee is under pressure despite a 150-basis-point increase in commercial banks' statutory reserve ratio from January 16. The central bank kept its key policy interest rates unchanged last week. Commercial banks parked 40.057 billion rupees ($278.27 million) of surplus liquidity on Monday using the central bank's deposit facility at 6 percent, official data showed.