CBSL commences monetary easing cycle

• Slashes policy rates by 250 basis point
• Secondary market yields follow suit
• Rupee dips marginally

 

By Wealth Trust Securities

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka in an aggressive move was seen decreasing its monetary policy rates by a considerable 250 basis points (2.50%) at its monetary policy announcement yesterday. The new Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) stands at 13.00% and 14.00% respectively now.

The activity levels in the secondary bond market increased following the policy announcement as yields on the liquid maturities of 01.07.25, 15.05.26, 2027’s (i.e., 01.05.27 & 15.09.27) and 01.07.32 were seen decreasing to intraday lows of 26.75%, 24.60%, 24.25%, 24.00% and 20.00% respectively against its previous day’s closing levels of 28.50/30.00, 28.00/29.00, 26.60/90 and 21.75/22.75. The bullish sentiment led to the latest 182-day bill changing hands at a low of 19.00% as well.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 31 May 2023 was Rs. 127.63 billion.

In money markets, the DOD (Domestic Operations Department) of the Central Bank was seen injecting an amount of Rs. 50 billion on an overnight basis by way of a Reverse Repo auction at a weighted average of 13.61% as the net liquidity shortfall stood at Rs. 153.35 billion yesterday. The weighted average rate on overnight call money and repo stood at 14.00% each.

Forex Market

In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts depreciated marginally yesterday to close the day at Rs. 292.50/295.50 against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 290.00/291.00 on the back of continued selling pressure on the dollar.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 31 May was $ 117.33 million.  

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