Treasury bill weighted averages tumble

• 6-month bill average dips to 22-week low
• Secondary market bond yields decrease

By Wealth Trust Securities 

The weekly Treasury bill auction held yesterday saw its weighted average rates on all three maturities decrease steeply, recording its sixth consecutive week of declines. The six months or the 182-day bill maturity led the decline, as it dipped by a massive 230 basis points (2.30%) to a 22-week low of 29.07%.

The 91-day and 364-day maturities registered dips of 107 and 79 basis points to 30.08% and 28.25% respectively as well. The total offered amount of Rs. 95 billion was successfully accepted at the auction as its bids to offer ratio stood at 2.05:1. The phase 2 of the auction will be opened for all three maturities at its weighted average rates until close of business of the day prior to settlement (i.e., 3.30 pm on 19.01.2023).  The activity levels in the secondary bond market picked up as well yesterday following the auction outcome while yields decreased. The liquid maturities 01.05.24, 15.05.26 and 15.09.27 saw its yields hit intraday lows of 31.00%, 29.75% and 29.00% respectively against its previous day’s closing levels of 32.00/32.25, 30.95/00 and 29.60/00.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 17 January was Rs. 6.08 billion.   

In money markets, the DOD (Domestic Operations Department) of Central Bank injected an amount of Rs. 20.00 billion by way of an overnight Reverse Repo auction at a weighted average yield of 15.50% while the net overnight liquidity in the system stood at a deficit of Rs. 124.51 billion yesterday. The weighted average rates on overnight call money and repo stood at 15.47% and 15.50% respectively.

Forex market 

In the forex market, the middle rate for USD/LKR spot contracts remained steady at Rs. 362.24 yesterday.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 17 January was $ 73.70 million.  

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