COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan rupee was trading slightly firmer on Tuesday as dollar selling by a private bank, likely to defend the local currency, outpaced importer dollar demand, dealers said.
The private bank might have sold the greenback on behalf of the central bank, some dealers said.
Officials at the central bank were not available for comment on the matter.
The rupee was at 143.85/144.10 per dollar at 0641 GMT, 0.1 percent higher from Monday's close of 144.00/20.
"The (import) demand is there, but rupee is trading firmer as a private bank sold dollars at 143.85," said a currency dealer, asking not to be named.
The market, however, expects pressure on the rupee to ease due to a 150 basis points increase in the statutory reserve ratio of commercial banks from Jan. 16 and on expected inflows from foreign deposits.
The yield on 91-day t-bills has risen 40 basis points to a more than three-month high of 6.78 percent in three weekly auctions since the Dec. 30 monetary policy announcement.
Sri Lanka's main stock index was down 1.24 percent or 78.25 points at 6,246.36 at 0643 GMT. Turnover stood at 438.2 million rupees ($3.05 million).
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