Activity picks up marginally in secondary bill and bond market

By Wealth Trust Securities

The activity levels in the secondary bill and bond market picked up marginally yesterday on the back of buying interest on three-month bills and the 01.06.25 bond maturity. The 91-day or three-month bill was seeing changing hands from an intraday high of 31.55% to a low of 30.55% while a 21 July 2023 bill changed hands at 31.00%. The 01.06.25 bond maturity traded at 28.00%.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 24 August was Rs. 28.51 billion.  

In money markets, the net liquidity deficit stood at Rs. 495.32 billion yesterday as an amount of Rs. 784.73 billion was withdrawn from Central Bank’s SLFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 15.50% against an amount of Rs. 289.42 billion deposited at Central Bank’s SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 14.50%. The weighted average rates on overnight REPO stood at 15.50% while No Call money transactions were reported for a fifth consecutive day.

Forex market 

In the forex market, the middle rate for USD/LKR spot contracts remained steady for a third consecutive day at Rs. 361.00.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 24 August was $ 115.50 million. 

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

companies)