The Sri Lankan rupee snapped a six-session winning streak to end lower on Wednesday due to importer dollar demand, but greenback inflows from inward remittances ahead of the traditional new year capped further decline, sources said.
The currency edged down at 174.60/80 to the dollar, compared with Tuesday's close of 174.45/60. Investor sentiment took a big hit as a result of the 51-day political crisis, leading to credit rating downgrades and an outflow of foreign funds from government securities. The rupee dropped 16 percent in 2018, and was one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia due to heavy foreign outflows. Foreign investors bought a net 1.6 billion rupees worth of government securities in the week ended March 27, the fourth net inflow in six weeks, extending year-to-date net foreign buying to 3.3 billion rupees, the latest central bank data showed. The Colombo Stock Exchange index ended 0.34 percent higher at 5,597.37 on Wednesday, its highest close since March 18.