Thursday Jul 23, 2026
Thursday Jul 23, 2026
Wednesday, 22 July 2026 06:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Wealth Trust Securities
The secondary Bond market yesterday saw rates increase on the back of continued selling pressure. In addition, traders were seen taking a wait-and-see and risk-off stance ahead of the upcoming Monetary Policy Announcement. As a result, activity was seen at subdued levels while transaction volumes were boosted by the execution of several block transactions at the elevated levels.
The 01.07.28 maturity traded at 10.70%, while the 15.09.29 and 15.10.30 maturities changed hands at 11.15% and 11.65% to 11.60% respectively. Further along the curve, the 15.03.31, 01.12.31, 01.10.32 and 15.12.32 maturities traded at 11.95%%, 11.95%–12%, 12%–12.05% and 12%, respectively. The 15.06.34 maturity traded at the rate of 12.25%.
The Treasury bill auction scheduled for today, will have a total amount of Rs. 140 billion on offer. This will comprise of Rs. 60 billion offered on the 91-day maturity, Rs. 50 billion on the 182-day maturity and Rs. 30 billion on the 364-day maturity. This is below the maturity corresponding to the scheduled auction, which is estimated to be approximately Rs. 153.22 billion.
To recap: At the weekly Treasury Bill auction held last Wednesday, weighted average yields declined across all three tenors for the first time in four weeks. Accordingly, the yield on the 91-day tenor fell by 8 basis points to 10.13%, while the 182-day and 364-day yields declined by 3 basis points and 1 basis point to 10.27% and 10.20%, respectively.
The auction successfully raised the full offered amount of Rs. 120 billion during phase I of competitive bidding, with the accepted amount for each maturity exactly matching its respective offer. A further Rs. 12 billion, the maximum amount available was raised during Phase II at the auction-determined yields, against total market subscriptions of Rs. 123.09 billion.
In the money market, the net liquidity surplus stood at Rs. 142.36 billion yesterday. Of this, Rs. 97.50 billion was absorbed via the Central Bank’s Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) at 8.25%, while a further Rs. 60 billion was mopped up through an overnight repo auction conducted by the Domestic Operations Department (DOD) at a weighted average rate of 8.69%. This was against an amount of Rs. 15.14 billion been withdrawn from the Central Bank’s Standing Lending Facility (SLF) of 9.25%.
The weighted average rates on overnight call money and Repos were recorded at 8.97% and 9.00% respectively.
Forex market
The USD/LKR rate on spot contracts was seen closing at the day at Rs. 336.35/336.50, sipping against its previous days close of Rs. 336.25/336.30.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 20 July was $ 74.25 million.
(References: Public Debt Management Office - Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond Trading Platform, Money Broking Companies)
