• Rupee appreciates 10.1% against US dollar this year

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank net purchases from the domestic foreign exchange market surpassed $ 2.6 billion by November, with a monthly purchase average of $ 240 million, data showed.

According to the weekly indicators by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), it purchased $ 327 million from the domestic foreign exchange market in November bringing net purchases to $ 2,637 million.

Data showed that the CBSL has only sold foreign exchange worth $ 160 million in four months out of the 11 months so far in the year.

As a result of the net purchases, during the year up to 27 December, the Sri Lanka rupee has appreciated against the US dollar by 10.1%, and the foreign reserves stood at $ 6,462 million by the end of November, out of which $ 2,278 million are in securities.

Moreover, data showed that predetermined short-term net drains on foreign currency assets amount to a total of $ 465 million in the first quarter of 2025, and $ 961 million for the next nine months thereafter.

Meanwhile, the daily Interbank Volume for spot, tom and cash transactions among commercial banks increased to $ 60.51 million from $ 37.4 million a week ago, due to the high demand experienced during the Christmas week.

Further, CBSL data showed that during the period from January to October, net domestic financing decreased to Rs. 786.3 billion compared to Rs. 1,477.8 billion in the corresponding period of 2023.

Also, the net foreign financing increased to Rs. 274.5 billion during the ten months ending October compared to the Rs. 69.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.