- Rs. 102 bn out of Rs. 13.8 tn held by foreign investors
- Clarity on domestic debt too gives a boost, says Softlogic Stockbrokers
Foreign holding of government securities has increased by almost 50% since Sri Lanka got the approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the $ 2.9 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), Central Bank data showed.
According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), the total stock of Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds stood at Rs. 13.8 trillion as of 12 April out of which Rs. 102.4 billion were held by foreign investors, an increase of Rs. 33.61 billion or by 48.4% since 23 March.
Speaking to The Daily Morning Business, Softlogic Stockbrokers Senior Manager of Investment Research Raynal Wickremeratne said that when Sri Lanka defaulted on external debt in April 2022, foreign holding of government securities was virtually negligible but it started to gradually increase when Sri Lanka got finance assurances and when the IMF staff level and board level approval was received it started to increase consistently on a month-on-month basis.
Moreover, he said that the clarity on domestic debt also has driven the increase in foreign holdings in government securities as foreign investors would look for firm signs of a recovery before they begin to take a position.
“If the domestic debt restructuring is handled in a timely manner with minimal economic repercussions, this will help improve foreign investor sentiment to a large extent,” he added.
Wickremeratne said that in terms of the foreign holdings, it also has to do with their expectation of the country to recover in the medium term, which is not necessarily a very speculative short-term view.
Further, on the yield rates being more attractive than US rates, he said that it will take some time for Treasury Bill rates to go down to around 10% or a single-digit level.
As of yesterday, the US 3-month Treasury Bill yield was at 5.03% while Sri Lanka’s 3-month Bill was at 24.80% as of last week.
According to Wickremeratne, it is unlikely that yield rates would reduce to 10% or single digit level in the next 6-12 months period, which is sufficient to keep the investors interested in the Sri Lanka Government securities market.