Bond market at a standstill ahead of weekly bill auction

By Wealth Trust Securities

The secondary bond market was at a standstill yesterday ahead of the weekly Treasury bill auction due today. A trade was seen on the very short tenure 1 October maturity at 25.00% while in the secondary bill market, 14 April 2023 maturity traded at 22.00%.

The auction will see a total volume of Rs. 87.5 billion on offer, a reduction of Rs. 10 billion over its previous week’s total offered volume. This will consist of Rs. 42.5 billion on the 91-day maturity, Rs. 24.5 billion on the 182-day maturity and a further Rs. 20.5 billion on the 364-day maturity.

At last week’s auction, weighted average rates increased by 350, 204, and 100 basis points on the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day maturities respectively to 23.21%, 24.77%, and 24.36%.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 25 April was Rs. 2.06 billion.   

In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight Call Money and REPO were at 14.50% each as an amount of Rs. 808.13 billion was withdrawn from the Central Bank’s SLFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 14.50%. 

The net liquidity deficit was registered at Rs. 640.57 billion yesterday as an amount of Rs. 167.55 billion was deposited at the Central Bank’s SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 13.50%.  

Forex Market 

The Forex market continued to remain inactive. 

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 25 April was $ 25.03 million.  

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