91 day bill W.A continues to trickle down at weekly T-Bill auction

• Bond market at a standstill

By Wealth Trust Securities

The weighted average yields at the weekly T-Bill auction conducted yesterday were seen decreasing, with the market favourite 91 day maturity reducing by a further 07 basis points to 8.52%. 

The 182 day bill weighted average rate decreased by 01 basis point as well to 8.54% while the 364 day bill weighted average rate increased by 04 basis points to 8.59%. 

Once more, the total offered amount of Rs. 77 billion was fully accepted as an amount of Rs. 76.7 billion was accepted on the 91 day maturity alone against its offered amount of Rs. 37 billion. The bids to offer ratio increased to 2.71:1. 

The secondary bond market activity was at a standstill yesterday.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 8 February was Rs. 0.50 billion.   

In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight Call money and REPO remained steady at 6.48% and 6.50% respectively as an amount of Rs. 636.25 billion was withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 6.50%. 

An amount of Rs. 66.01 billion was deposited at Central Banks SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 5.50% while an amount of Rs. 69.83 billion was drained out by way of overnight repo auction at a weighted average rate of 6.49%.

The net liquidity deficit registered at a historically high level of Rs. 500.41 billion yesterday.

Forex Market 

The USD/LKR rate on spot contracts traded at a level of Rs. 203.00 while the overall market remained inactive yesterday.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 8 February was $ 41.00 million.   

(References: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond trading platform, Money broking companies)