Saturday Feb 28, 2026
Saturday Feb 28, 2026
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 04:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Wealth Trust Securities
The secondary Bond market opened the new trading week with rates edging up further carrying over the upward momentum from last week which was driven by profit taking selling pressure.
Trading activity and transaction volumes were seen moderating further to dull levels, with the market at a virtual standstill for much of the day. Market participants were seen adopting a watchful wait-and-see approach ahead of back-to-back Treasury Bill and Bond auctions as well as the CCPI inflation data for February 2026 due later this week.
Accordingly limited trades were seen on selected tenors. The 15.02.28 maturity traded at the rate of 9.00%. The 15.10.28 maturity traded up the range of 9.15%-9.19%. The 15.10.29 maturity traded at the rate of 9.50% while the 15.06.35 maturity traded at the rate of 10.84%.
In money markets, the net liquidity surplus remained elevated and was recorded at Rs. 288.48 billion yesterday. The Domestic Operations Department (DOD) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was seen draining out an amount of Rs. 50 billion by way of overnight Repo auction at a weighted average rate of 7.62% while an amount of Rs. 239.68 billion was deposited at Central Bank’s SDFR (Standing Deposit Facility Rate) of 7.25%. An amount of Rs. 1.20 billion was withdrawn from the Central Bank’s SLFR (Standing Lending Facility Rate) of 8.25%.
The weighted average rates on overnight call money and Repo stood at 7.68% and 7.70% respectively.
Forex market
In the forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts were seen closing the day mostly unchanged at Rs. 309.36/309.38 as against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 309.35/309.40.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 20 February 2026 was $ 68.30 million.
(References: Public Debt Management Office - Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond Trading Platform, Money Broking Companies)
