Weekly averages continue to fall

• 3-month average dips below 7% for first time in over 4 years
• Bond market activity moderates

By Wealth Trust Securities

The weekly Treasury bill weighted averages were seen declining for a third consecutive week at its auctions held yesterday, with the thee-month or 91-day maturity dipping below the 7% psychological level for the first time since 12 January 2016. 

The declines were recorded at 20, 15 and 10 basis points on the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day bills respectively to 6.80%, 7.10% and 7.40%. However, the total accepted amount was seen falling short of the total offered amount for a second consecutive week, as only Rs. 25 billion was accepted against a total offered amount of Rs.30 billion while the bids to offer ratio dipped to a 15-week low of 1.83:1.

The secondary bond market activity moderated considerably yesterday as limited trades were seen on the 15.09.24 and 01.08.25 maturities at levels 9.40% and 9.70% to 9.85% respectively. In secondary bills, a November 2020 maturity was seen changing hands at a level of 7.65%, pre-auction.

In money markets yesterday, the DOD (Domestic operations Department) of Central Bank was seen infusing liquidity for two days at a weighted average of 6.85% for a volume of Rs. 15 billion. Overnight call money and Repo averaged 6.78% & 6.82% respectively while the overnight liquidity stood at Rs. 53.23 billion

Forex market

The USD/LKR rate was seen traded on its one week forward contract at Rs. 191.50 yesterday in the absence of spot transactions.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 31 March was $ 45.50 million

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