Activity remains moderate ahead of weekly T-bill auction

By Wealth Trust Securities

The activity in the secondary bond market remained moderated yesterday as the maturities of 01.10.22, 15.03.23, 01.02.26 and 15.05.30 changed hands at levels of 6.25%, 7.15% to 7.18%, 9% and 10% respectively.

At today’s bill auction, a total volume of Rs. 39.5 billion will be on offer, Rs.24.5 billion less than the previous weeks total offered volume. This will consist of Rs. 12 billion on the 91-day maturity, Rs. 12.5 billion on the 182-day maturity and Rs. 15 billion on the 364-day maturity. The stipulated cut-off rate on the 364-day maturity was increased by 7 basis points to 6.12% while the maximum yield rates of the 91-day and 182-day maturities will be decided below the level of the 364-day maturity. At last week’s auction, the total accepted volume increased to 48.10% of its total offered volume while the weighted average rates on the 91-day and 364-day maturities increased by nine basis points each to 6.01% and 6.05% respectively. All bids received on the 182-day maturity were rejected.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 13 September was Rs. 11.15 billion.   

In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight call money and repo remained mostly unchanged at 5.96% and 5.92% respectively while the overnight net liquidity shortage stood at Rs. 175.45 billion yesterday. An amount of Rs. 96.18 billion was deposited at the Central Bank’s SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 5% against an amount of Rs. 271.63 billion been withdrawn from the Central Bank’s SLFR (Standard Lending Facility Rate) of 6%.

USD/LKR   

In the Forex market, the overall market continued to remain inactive yesterday.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 13 September was $ 40.05 million. 

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