Bond yields increase marginally ahead of weekly bill auction

Activity in the secondary bond market increased yesterday as yields increased marginally ahead of the weekly Treasury bills auction due today. Trades were witnessed on the maturities of 01.08.24 and 15.06.27 at levels of 14.40% to 14.55% and 15.01% respectively against its previous day’s closing level of 14.30/40 and 14.50/00. In the secondary bill market, 10 June bill was traded at levels of 11.50% to 11.60%.

The auction will see a total volume of Rs. 56.5 billion on offer, a decrease of Rs. 3.5 billion over its previous weeks total offered volume. This will consist of Rs. 20 billion on the 91 day maturity, Rs. 15 billion on the 182 day maturity and a further Rs. 21.5 billion on the 364 day maturity. At last week’s auction, the weighted average rates increased across the board to 11.35%, 11.05% and 11.15% respectively.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 21 March was Rs. 2.10 billion.   

In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight Call money and REPO was at 7.49% and 7.50% respectively as an amount of Rs. 639.23 billion was withdrawn from Central Banks Standard Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of 7.50%. The net liquidity deficit was registered at Rs. 548.63 billion yesterday as an amount of Rs. 90.60 billion was deposited at Central Banks Standard Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) of 6.50%.  

 Forex market 

In the forex market, the overall activity remained moderate yesterday.   

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 21 March was $ 10.04 million.  

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