Sri Lankan Rupee Holds Steady Near Record Low

The Sri Lankan rupee ended steady on Thursday, holding near the record low hit in the previous session, as importer dollar demand was met by greenback sales by state banks, dealers said, while a top central bank official warned against market manipulation.

Nandalal Weerasinghe, the central bank’s senior deputy governor, on Thursday said the rupee will stabilise and the monetary authority will intervene to smooth high volatility as there is no reason for a weaker currency.

“We can bring back control as in the past. We can intervene, we can do moral suasion, and we can limit the net opening position,” Weerasinghe told Reuters.

The rupee hit a fresh all-time low of 157.90 per dollar on Wednesday, the sixth session in which the rupee has hit record lows out of seven since April 23.

The rupee closed at 157.80/158.00 per dollar on Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday’s close.

It fell 0.9 percent last week and 1.5 percent in April.

Courtesy : reuters