Accepted amount at weekly bill auction increases further 

Wealth Trust Securities

The sentiment at yesterday’s weekly Treasury bill auction improved as the total accepted volume increased further to 98.50% of its total offered volume and against its previous week’s 92.28%.

The 91-day bill continued to dominate the auction with an accepted volume of Rs. 83.48 billion or 94.17% of the total accepted volume. 

The weighted average rate on the 91-day maturity increased by five basis points to 33.10% while the weighted average rate on the 182-day bill remained steady at 32.53%. The weighted average rate on the 364-day bill decreased by 3 basis points to 29.57% while phase two of the auction will be opened for 182-day and 364-day maturities at its weighted average rates until the close of business on the day prior to settlement (i.e., 3.30 p.m. on 03.11.22). 

Activity for both bills and bonds in the secondary market remained muted yesterday while only an 02.12.22 bill changed hands at a level of 30.00%.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 1 November 2022 was Rs. 1.15 billion.   

In money markets, the net liquidity deficit stood at Rs. 329.12 billion yesterday as an amount of Rs. 335.84 billion was deposited at Central Banks SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 14.50% against an amount of Rs. 664.96 billion withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Lending Facility Rate) of 15.50%. The weighted average rate on overnight call money and REPO stood at 15.50% each.

Forex Market 

In the Forex market, the middle rate for USD/LKR spot contracts remained steady at Rs. 363.30 yesterday. 

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 1 November was $ 97.25 million.  

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