Friday Mar 06, 2026
Friday Mar 06, 2026
Thursday, 5 March 2026 04:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Wealth Trust Securities
The net liquidity surplus in the money market was recorded at Rs. 403.77 billion yesterday, crossing the Rs. 400 billion mark and hitting a new high, up from Rs. 332.49 billion the day before.
As an amount of Rs. 254.06 billion was deposited at Central Bank’s SDFR (Standing Deposit Facility Rate) of 7.25% as against an amount of Rs. 0.29 billion withdrawn from the Central Bank’s SDFR (Standing Deposit Facility Rate) of 8.25%. The Domestic Operations Department (DOD) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was seen draining out an amount of Rs. 75 billion by way of overnight Repo auction at a weighted average rate of 7.60% and an amount of Rs 75.00 billion by way of seven-day Repo auction at a weighted average rate of 7.72%.
The weighted average rates on overnight call money and Repo yesterday stood at 7.67% and 7.71% respectively.
Meanwhile, the weekly Treasury Bill auction conducted yesterday saw yields hold broadly steady breaking a six-week consecutive streak of decreases prior. Accordingly, the rate on the 91-day Bill remained at 7.63% and the rate on the 182-day Bill stayed static at 7.92%. However, the 364-day Bill saw its yield ease very marginally by 1 basis points to 8.23%.
The auction was heavily undersubscribed at the first phase in competitive bidding. The auction raised only Rs. 47.83 billion, or 39.86% of the total offered amount of Rs. 120 billion. The bid-to-cover ratio stood at 1.50 times.
The second phase subscription only on the 182-day and 364-day maturities is now open until 3.00 pm of business day prior to settlement date (i.e., 05.03.2026) at the WAYRs determined for the said ISINs at the auction.
The secondary Bond market saw yields on the short end edge up while the rest of the yield curve saw rates hold broadly steady and consolidate at prevailing levels. Market activity and transaction volumes were seen at healthy levels.
In terms of the Secondary Bond market trade summary, the 15.01.27 maturity traded at the rate of 8.27%. The 01.05.28 and 01.07.28 maturities were seen trading at the rates of 9.10% and 9.13%-9.15% respectively. The 15.10.28 maturity traded at the rate of 9.20%.
The 15.09.29, 15.10.29 and 15.12.29 maturities traded at the rates of 9.57%, 9.58% and 9.58%-9.60%. The 01.03.30 maturity traded at the rate of 9.60%. The 15.12.32 maturity traded within the range of 10.28%-10.22%. The 01.06.33 maturity was seen trading at the rate of 10.50%.
The total secondary market Treasury Bond/Bill transacted volume for 3 March was Rs. 15.96 billion.
Forex market
In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts closed the day at 310.30/310.60, as against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 310.10/310.30.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 3 March was Rs. 100.90 million.
(References: Public Debt Management Office - Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond Trading Platform, Money Broking Companies)
