Weekly Treasury bill auction goes undersubscribed

By Wealth Trust Securities

The weekly Treasury bill auction conducted on Tuesday went undersubscribed, as only 88.84% or Rs. 75.5 billion of its total offered volume of Rs. 85 billion was accepted in successful bids.

The weighted average rate on the 364-day maturity recorded a decrease for a sixth consecutive week, this time around by 13 basis points to 29.33%. The weighted average rates on the 91-day and 182-day maturities remained steady at 32.91% and 32.97% respectively, subsequent to three consecutive weeks of decreases.

Phase 2 of the auction will be opened for the 182-day and 364-day maturities at its weighted average rates until close of business on the day prior to settlement (i.e., 3:30 p.m. on 08.12.22).

Activity levels in the secondary bond market remained moderate on Tuesday as only the 01.05.24 maturity changed hands at levels of 31.25% to 31.60% against its previous day’s closing level of 31.25/00.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 5 December was Rs. 0.54 billion.  

In money markets, the weighted average rate on overnight call money and REPO were registered at 15.50% each on Tuesday. The net liquidity deficit stood at Rs. 242.59 billion as an amount of Rs. 332.18 billion was deposited at Central Bank’s SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 14.50% against an amount of Rs. 574.77 billion withdrawn from Central Bank’s SLFR (Standard Lending Facility Rate) of 15.50%.

Forex market

In the forex market, the middle rate for USD/LKR spot contracts was at Rs. 363.1800 on Tuesday against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 363.1767.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 5 December was $ 6.05 million.

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