Lanka currency ends little changed on exporter dollar sales

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan rupee ended little changed as dollar sales by exporters and banks offset importer demand for the greenback.
Some dealers said they moved to one-day forward instead of spot trade after the central bank’s earlier direction to banks not to accept bids above 131.60 rupees per dollar.
The one-day forward ended slightly weaker at 131.73/75 per dollar from Wednesday’s close of 131.72/78.
Central bank officials were not available for comment.
Dealers said the pressure on the currency remained as exporters adopted a wait-and-see approach.
The rupee has fallen around 4 percent since June 7, as foreign investors started to pull out of Sri Lanka’s treasury bonds due to a rise in US treasury yields.
Data from the central bank, which has stopped publishing foreign holdings in long term T-bonds separately since June 28, showed total foreign holdings in government securities rose 1.2 percent between June 5 and Aug. 2, which currency dealers attributed to foreign buying in short-term T-bills.
Dealers expect the rupee to move in a 131.50 to 132.00 range in the short term and continue to depreciate unless the central bank steps in or dollar inflows increase significantly.
Currency markets will remained close on Friday to mark Id-Al-Fitr and trading will resume on Monday.