91- and 182-day bills WAvg’s dip below 10%

• Secondary bond market yields hold broadly steady
• Rupee appreciates

By Wealth Trust Securities

The weighted averages (WAvg’s) at yesterday’s weekly Treasury bill auction on its 91-day and 182-day maturities were seen dipping below Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of 10% to record 9.79% and 9.86% respectively, reflecting drops of 117 and 121 basis points against its previous week. The 364-day maturity too plunged by 71 basis points to 10.02%.

The strong demand saw the total offered amount of Rs. 135 billion was raised at the first phase of the auction. The second phase of subscription, for the 182-day and 364-day maturities will be opened until 4:00 p.m. on the day before the settlement date (i.e., 15.02.2024) at the respective weighted averages determined at the first phase of the auction. 

Meanwhile, the secondary bond market yesterday saw two-way quotes close the day mostly stable on active trade. Accordingly, transactions were observed on the two 26’s (01.02.26, 01.06.26 and 01.08.26), 15.09.27, 2028’s (15.03.28, 01.05.28, 01.07.28 and 15.12.28), 15.05.30, 01.07.32, 15.01.33 trading within the ranges of 10.74% to 10.45%, 11.40% to 11.35%, 11.90% to 11.70%, 12.25% to 12.10%, 12.75% to 12.65% respectively.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 13 February was Rs. 33.51 billion.

In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight call money and Repo stood at 9.14 % and 9.61% respectively while the net liquidity surplus stood at Rs. 50.18 billion yesterday.

The DOD (Domestic Operations Department) of Central Bank injected liquidity by way of an overnight Repo auction for Rs. 15.89 billion at a weighted average rate of 9.17% while an amount of Rs. 67.03 billion was deposited at Central Bank’s SDFR (Standing Deposit Facility Rate) of 9%. 

Forex Market

In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts closed the day up at Rs. 313.00/313.10 against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 313.10/313.30.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 13 February was $ 46 million.

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