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Sunday Feb 22, 2026
Thursday, 12 February 2026 02:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Wealth Trust Securities
The net liquidity surplus in the money market surged to a high of Rs. 296.45 billion yesterday up from Rs. 282.22 billion recorded the day prior.
An amount of Rs 296.83 billion was deposited at the Central Bank’s SDFR (Standing Deposit Facility Rate) of 7.25% as against an amount of Rs. 0.38 billion withdrawn from the Central Bank’s SDFR (Standing Deposit Facility Rate) of 8.25%. The weighted average rates on overnight call money and Repo yesterday stood at 7.65% and 7.69% respectively.
Against this backdrop the weekly Treasury Bill auction conducted yesterday registered a positive outcome, with yields continuing to trend downward. The weighted average rates declined across all maturities for the fourth consecutive week.
The shorter-tenor maturities saw a more pronounced downward adjustment, with the rate on the 91-day Bill declining by 8 basis points to 7.72% and the rate on the 182-day Bill dropping by 10 basis points to 8.07%. The 364-day Bill saw its yield ease more modestly, by 2 basis points to 8.31%.
The auction was fully subscribed, raising the entire Rs. 90 billion offered. Total bids reached 3.16 times the offered amount.
The Phase II subscription across all three maturities is now open until 3.00 p.m. of business day prior to settlement date (i.e., 12.02.2026) at the WAYRs determined for the said ISINs at the auction.
Meanwhile, the secondary Bond market yesterday extended its rally and saw yields continue to drop. Trading was observed across the yield curve, with most of the action focused on short to belly end of the yield curve. Overall activity and transaction volumes were seen at robust levels.
In terms of the Secondary Bond market trade summary, the 01.09.28 and 15.10.28 maturities traded lower at the rates of 9.05% and 9.06%-9.05% respectively. The 15.06.29, 15.09.29, 15.10.29 and 15.12.29 maturities were seen trading at the rates of 9.40%-9.35%, 9.46%-9.45%, 9.48%-9.46% and 9.51%-9.48%.
The 01.03.30 maturity was seen trading at the rate of 9.60% and the 15.10.30 maturity down the range of 9.65%-9.62%. The 15.03.31 maturity traded at the rate of 9.80% and the 15.12.32 maturity was seen trading at the rate of 10.15%. The 01.06.33 maturity saw its rate decline down the range of 10.50%-10.45%. The 01.11.33 maturity traded at the rate of 10.46%. The 15.06.34 maturity traded within the range of 10.65%-10.64% and the 15.06.35 maturity at the rate of 10.75%.
This comes ahead of the Treasury Bond auction, scheduled to be conducted Today, 12 of February. The round of auctions will have a total offered amount of Rs. 51.00 billion across two available maturities.
The auction will be comprised of: Rs. 21 billion from a 1 March 2030 maturity bearing a coupon rate of 9.50%; Rs. 30 billion from a 15 August 2036 maturity bearing a coupon rate of 10.85%. The settlement will be held on 16 February 2026.
For context, at the previous round of auctions: The Public Debt Management Office - Ministry of Finance raised Rs. 179.06 billion or 87% of the Rs. 205 billion offered, across three maturities. Yields came in at or below expectations with a solid 2.38x bids received to offered amount ratio. Maturity-wise the results were as follows: The 01.03.30 maturity cleared at 9.72% (fully subscribed), the 15.06.34 maturity was issued at 10.92% was also fully subscribed, while 01.07.37 was issued at 11.08% but went undersubscribed.
The total secondary market Treasury Bond/Bill transacted volume for 10 February was Rs. 15.38 billion.
Forex market
In the forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts closed the day at 309.35/309.40, as against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 309.43/309.47.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 10 February was Rs. 106.29 million.
(References: Public Debt Management Office - Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond Trading Platform, Money Broking Companies)
