Thursday Feb 19, 2026
Thursday Feb 19, 2026
Wednesday, 18 February 2026 00:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Wealth Trust Securities
The secondary Bond market yesterday saw trading at prevailing levels as the market continued to consolidate. Market activity and transaction volumes were seen at robust levels.
Accordingly, the 01.08.26 maturity traded at the rate of 8.10%. The 15.01.27 maturity traded at the rate of 8.30%. The 15.09.29, 15.10.29 and 15.12.29 maturities traded at the rates of 9.44%-9.48%, 9.45% and 9.46%-9.47% respectively.
The 01.03.30 maturity traded at the rates of 9.53%-9.51% whiles the 01.07.30 maturity traded at the rate of 9.54%. The 15.03.31 maturity traded at the rate of 9.72%. The 01.10.32 and 15.12.32 maturity changed hands at the rates of 10.15%-10.11% and 10.15% respectively.
The 15.06.34 and 15.06.35 maturities were seen trading at the rates of 10.65% and 10.74%-10.75% respectively. The 01.07.37 maturity traded at the rate of 10.85% and the 15.08.39 maturity at the rate of 10.92%.
Meanwhile, the weekly Treasury Bill auction scheduled for today will have on offer a total amount of Rs. 60 billion. The auction will be comprising of Rs. 10 billion in 91-day Bills, Rs. 35 billion in 182-day Bills, and Rs. 15 billion in 364-day Bills. The offered amount is below the maturing volume, which is estimated at around Rs. 67.21 billion.
For context, the weekly Treasury Bill auction held last Wednesday (11 February), 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. Demand extended to the second phase where an additional Rs. 9 billion was raised, out of a total market subscription of a staggering Rs. 32.45 billion. Accordingly, the aggregate accepted amount of the issuance was Rs. 99 billion.
The total secondary market Treasury Bond/Bill transacted volume for 13th February was Rs. 25.81 billion.
In money markets, the net liquidity surplus was recorded at Rs. 270.41 billion yesterday. An amount of Rs. 258.23 billion was deposited at Central Bank’s SDFR (Standing Deposit Facility Rate) of 7.25% as against an amount of Rs. 7.82 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. 20 billion by way of overnight repo auction at a weighted average rate of 7.65%.
The weighted average rates on overnight call money and Repo stood at 7.68% and 7.68% respectively.
Forex market
In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts were seen closing the day at Rs. 309.40/309.50 as against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 309.20/309.25.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 16 February 2026 was $ 92.60 million.
(References: Public Debt Management Office - Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond Trading Platform, Money Broking Companies)
