- NCPI increases to a 47 month high
- Bond market muted
The National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) for the month of October was seen crossing the psychological level of 8.00% on its point to point to reach a 47 month high of 8.3% at its announcement yesterday while it registered a 2.1% month on month increase. The annual average also increased to 5.7% when compared against its September figure of 5.5%.
Meanwhile activity in the secondary bond market was at a standstill yesterday with a majority of market participants continuing to be on the sidelines. Only the 15.01.27 maturity was traded at a level of 10.80%.
The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 19th November 2021 was Rs.1.03 billion.
In money markets, the weighted average rates on call money and repo remained mostly unchanged at 5.92% and 5.98% respectively while an amount of Rs.326.35 billion was withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Lending Facility Rate) of 6.00%.
Furthermore, the Domestic Operations Department (DOD) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was seen draining out amounts of Rs.19.75 billion and Rs.15.00 billion by way of overnight and 7 day repo auctions at weighted average rates of 5.98% and 5.97% respectively while an amount of Rs.68.14 billion was deposited at Central Banks SLFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 6.00%.
The net liquidity deficit stood at Rs.223.46 billion yesterday.
USD/LKR
In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts traded at Rs.203.00 while the overall market remained inactive on Wednesday.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 19th November 2021 was US $ 56.00 million.
(References: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond trading platform, Money broking companies)