Rupee hits record low on importer dollar demand

Reuters: The Sri Lankan rupee hit a record intraday low on Friday as strong demand for dollars from importers outpaced selling of the greenback by exporters, dealers said.

The rupee fell 0.17% to 143.40 per dollar during the day, surpassing its previous trough of 143.30 hit on 7 December.

The currency ended the day at 143.35/40 per dollar compared with Thursday’s close of 143.20/30.

«There were a few buyers due to some imports and some other deals, today the demand was unusual,» said a currency dealer, asking not to be named.

The Central Bank on Thursday conducted a repo auction for the third time this week, accepting 10.75 billion rupees ($75.10 million), or all the bids received, at 6.16%. The amount on offer was 20 billion rupees.

Commercial banks parked 72.869 billion rupees of surplus liquidity on Friday using the Central Bank›s deposit facility at 6%, official data showed.



The Central Bank also absorbed a net 17.479 billion rupees on Friday, data showed, which analysts attributed to the repo auctions held on Thursday and the Central Bank›s selling of treasury bills.