- One year bill crosses 7.00% for the first time in fifteen months
- Market favorite 91 day bill increase to a 71 week high
- Bond market at a standstill
The benchmark one year Treasury bill weighted average rate was seen increasing to cross the 7.00% psychological level for the first time since April 2020 to record 7.01% at its auction held yesterday while the market favorite 91 day bill weighted average rate increased for a ninth consecutive week to register 6.70%, a level last seen in May 2020. The weighted average increases on the 91 day, 182 day and 364 day maturities was recorded at 32, 72 and 51 basis points respectively to 6.70%, 6.99% and 7.01%. However, the total accepted amount was seen falling short of the total offered amount for a eleventh consecutive week, as only Rs.31.18 billion was accepted against a total offered amount of Rs.51.5 billion while the bids to offer ratio stood at 1.40:1. Given below are the details of the auction,
Meanwhile, activity in the secondary bond market was at a standstill yesterday with a majority of market participants opting to be on the sidelines.
The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 28th of September 2021 was Rs.4.95 billion.
In money markets, the net liquidity deficit increased to Rs.122.19 billion yesterday with an amount of Rs.88.17 billion been deposited at Central Banks SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 5.00% against an amount of Rs.210.36 billion withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 6.00%. The weighted average rates on overnight Call money and REPO remained steady at 5.94% and 5.93% respectively.
USD/LKR
In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on tom contracts traded at level of Rs.203.00 yesterday.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 28th September 2021 was US $ 41.50 million.
(References: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond trading platform, Money broking companies)