Wednesday, 04 November 2015 18:44
COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan rupee fell 0.2 percent to end at a record low on Wednesday, due to higher demand for the dollar from importers, dealers said, a day ahead of a key government policy statement.
The rupee ended at 141.50/60 per dollar, surpassing its previous all-time low of 141.40 hit on Sept. 28.
The currency fell from Tuesday’s close of 141.15/20 and lost for a fifth straight session.
“It is very difficult to predict what is likely to happen and we don’t know if the central bank wants to allow the rupee to depreciate further,” a currency dealer said asking not to be named.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to announce the country’s medium-term economic policy framework after 1 p.m. (0730 GMT) on Thursday.
Investors are also waiting to see some clarity on economic policies from the 2016 budget announcement scheduled for Nov. 20.
Commercial banks parked 123.48 billion rupees ($ 872.96 million) of surplus liquidity on Wednesday, using the central bank’s deposit facility at 6 percent, official data showed.
The central bank also absorbed 147.349 billion rupees on Wednesday, data showed, which analysts attributed to absorbing sovereign bond proceeds.
