91 day bill weighted average dips for the first time in 8 weeks 

• Secondary market bond yields dip; SLF exceeds to Rs.600 b

By Wealth Trust Securities

The weighted average on the 91 day bill was seen decreasing for the first time in eight weeks at its weekly auction conducted yesterday. The total offered amount of Rs.88.5 billion was fully taken up on the 91 day maturity alone as all bids for the 182 day and 364 day maturities were rejected. The total bids received to total offered ratio increased to 2.66:1.

The weighted average rate on the 91 day bill decreased by 04 basis points to 8.59%.

Activity in the secondary bond market picked up yesterday as yields on the 01.05.25 and 15.01.33 maturities hit intraday lows of 11.01% and 12.96% respectively against its previous day’s closing level of 11.30/40 and 13.01/03. In addition, 15.03.24 and 15.03.25 maturities changed hands at levels of 10.45% and 11.29% to 11.15% respectively as well.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 1 February 2022 was Rs.6.48 billion.   

In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight Call money and REPO remained steady at 6.48% and 6.50% respectively as a historically high volume of Rs.605.30 billion was withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 6.50%. An amount of Rs.58.96 billion was deposited at Central Banks SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 5.50% while an amount of Rs.70.00 billion was drained out by way of overnight repo auction at a weighted average rate of 6.49%. The net liquidity deficit stood at Rs.476.35 billion yesterday.

Forex Market 

The overall market remained inactive yesterday.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 01st February 2022 was US $ 43.40 million.   

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