Sri Lankan ended 0.2 percent firmer at 176.30/45 per dollar, compared with Wednesday's close of 176.65/80, on exporter dollar sales, market sources said. Analysts, however, expect the currency to weaken as money flows out of stocks and government securities.
The rupee gained 0.1% last week and is up 3.4% for the year. Exporters had converted dollars as investor confidence stabilised after a $1 billion sovereign bond was repaid in mid-January. The rupee dropped 16% in 2018 and was one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia. Foreign investors sold a net 433.2 million rupees worth of government securities in the week ended May 15, extending net foreign outflow to 21.2 billion rupees so far this year, central bank data showed.