91 day bill weighted average decreases for a third consecutive week 

By Wealth Trust Securities 

 The market favourite 91 day bill weighted average yield decreased for a third consecutive week, recording a marginal drop this time around at its auction conducted on Tuesday due to a shortened trading week.

 It registered a drop of 02 basis points to 8.50% followed by the 364 day bill by 02 basis points as well to 8.57%. The weighted average rate on the 182 day bill remained steady at 8.54%. 

The total offered amount of Rs. 79 billion was successfully accepted at the auction with the 91 day bill representing 98.08% of this volume.  

In the secondary bond market, limited trades were witnessed consisting of the 01.05.25 and 15.06.27 maturities at levels of 11.10% to 11.12% and 12.10% respectively. The total secondary market treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 14 February was Rs. 1.93 billion.    

In money markets, the net liquidity deficit stood at Rs. 539.13 billion on Tuesday as an amount of Rs. 51.37 billion was deposited at Central Banks SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 5.50% against an amount of Rs. 634.25 billion withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR of 6.50%.  The Domestic Operations Department (DOD) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was seen draining out an amount of Rs. 43.75 billion by way of an overnight repo auction at a weighted average rate of 6.49%. The weighted average rates on overnight call money and REPO remained steady at 6.48% and 6.50% respectively. 

 Forex market  

 In Forex markets, overall activity continued to remain moderate on Tuesday while limited trades were witnessed on the USD/LKR spot contract at a level of Rs. 203.00.  The total USD/LKR traded volume for 14 February was $ 26.00 million. 

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