Rupee firmer on dollar sales; stocks end weaker

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lanka’s rupee rose 0.9 percent yesterday on banks’ dollar sales from inward remittances, while foreign investors purchased short-term bills. Stocks ended weaker. 

The rupee closed at 179.30/60 per dollar, compared with Tuesday’s close of 180.90/179.15, market sources said. On January 3, the rupee dropped to an all-time low of 183.00 against the dollar. 

The currency has appreciated 2 percent so far this year. 

Investor confidence in Sri Lanka is stabilising after the country repaid a US $ 1 billion sovereign bond in mid-January, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy told Reuters on Monday. 

However, investors maintained a cautious stance, awaiting cues about the government’s borrowing and repayment of foreign loans, analysts told Reuters. The government paid US $ 1 billion five-year sovereign bond borrowing this month. 

Worries over heavy debt repayment after a 51-day political crisis have dented investor sentiment as the county is struggling to repay its foreign loans, with a record US $ 5.9 billion due this year, including US $ 2.6 billion in the first three months. 

The Central Bank chief on January 14 said about US $ 5 billion borrowing in the pipeline could help debt repayments. 

The International Monetary Fund on January 16 said it would resume discussions for further disbursal of part of a US $ 1.5 billion loan amid investor worries of heavy debt repayments. 

The rupee dropped 16 percent in 2018 and was one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia due to heavy foreign outflows. 

The rupee has declined 3.5 percent since a political crisis started in October. The political crisis had dented investor sentiment and delayed Sri Lanka’s borrowing plans. 

Sri Lanka was plunged into political turmoil when President Maithripala Sirisena abruptly removed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and then 
dissolved parliament. 

A court later ruled the move was unconstitutional. Wickremesinghe was reinstalled as premier. 

A series of credit rating downgrades after the political crisis made it tough for the island nation to borrow as it faces record high repayments. 

The Colombo Stock Index ended 0.1 percent weaker at 5,991.29 yesterday. The bourse dropped 0.16 percent last week, while the benchmark index lost 5 percent in 2018. 

Turnover was Rs.736.7 million, more than last year’s daily average of Rs.834 million. 

Foreign investors net bought Rs.23.4 million worth shares yesterday. But they have been net sellers of Rs.2.2 billion worth of stocks so far this year and Rs.15.6 billion since the political crisis began on October 26, 2018.

The bond market saw an inflow of Rs.4.7 billion in the week ended January 23. But the market saw an outflows of Rs.81.9 billion between October 25 and January 23, the latest the Central Bank data showed.