Sri Lanka rupee hits record low for 4th session; stocks gain
Posted on October 8th, 2018
COLOMBO, Oct 8 (Reuters) – ** The Sri Lankan rupee hit a record low for a fourth straight session on Monday due to dollar demand from importers and foreign banks amid outflows from government securities, while stocks rose for a fourth consecutive session to a more than two-week closing high.
** The rupee fell to an all-time low of 170.75 per dollar, surpassing the previous low of 170.40 hit on Friday, on importer demand for the greenback and foreign selling in government securities and exporter greenback sales, market sources said. ** The central bank surprised financial markets on Tuesday by leaving its key policy rates unchanged, despite heavy pressure on the rupee and foreign outflows from government securities. ** The central bank said on Tuesday it purchased 4 million dollars from the market in the previous day, but it has sold a net 184 million dollars to the market so far this year to defend the currency.