A market brief each morning, plus company filings and news from across Sri Lanka's stock market. Filter by company, sector and theme, and use sentiment badges to quickly identify Positive or Negative news.
Gross public debt rose by Rs.744 billion in 2Q to Rs.32.98 trillion while its dollar value fell $4.32 billion to $97.95 billion, using an end-June exchange rate of Rs.336.6623/$ (end-March Rs.315.1909/$). Central government debt rose Rs.806bn; external debt rose $540m to $38.01bn.
Foreign investors bought a net 8,059 million rupees (US$24.8m) of Sri Lanka rupee bonds in the week to Aug 28, boosting foreign holdings to 210.6 billion rupees-the highest figure in the Central Bank's Weekly Economic Indicators. The inflows coincided with a firmer rupee (around LKR332) after a sharp depreciation in May and follow a May 100bp policy rate rise.
Sri Lanka's current account posted a $142m deficit in July, the fourth consecutive monthly deficit, leaving a January-July cumulative deficit of $387m, the central bank said. The trade deficit widened to $6.5bn Jan-Jul, fuel import costs rose 68% YoY in July, tourism earnings fell while remittances and some foreign inflows rose.
Sri Lanka's rupee was quoted at 327.90/328.05 to the US dollar, firmer than 328.10/30 the previous day, while government bond yields eased, especially on belly tenors. Dealers quoted mid-curve yields around 10.25-10.50%; the All Share Price Index rose 0.23% to 21,388.74.
The external current account recorded a $142m deficit in July, bringing the Jan-July cumulative shortfall to $387m as the merchandise trade deficit widened to $6.5bn (imports up 26% to $14.6bn). Fuel imports rose ~60% YoY to $3.62bn; the rupee was 5.5% weaker YTD to end‑Aug and reserves were $6.6bn at end‑July.
Secondary bond market opened on a positive note with yields edging lower on selected tenors, e.g. 15.12.28 at 10.10%, 15.12.29 at 10.30% and long-dated 2033-37 maturities around 11.20%-11.82%. CCPI inflation accelerated to 8% YoY in August; net liquidity surplus was Rs.132.33bn, the Central Bank absorbed Rs.70bn via repos and USD/LKR closed at 328.10/328.30.
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