COLOMBO: Sri Lankan rupee forwards fell for a sixth straight session on Wednesday as importers bought dollars at record low levels amid low liquidity, dealers said.
Exporters were reluctant to sell the greenback as they expect further fall in the currency and there was no positive impact on the rupee after the central bank's announcement of plans to raise $3 billion via sovereign bonds, dealers said.
Analysts, however, said the bond sale could bring a little stability in the long term.
The spot rupee, which has not been active since Jan. 27, did not trade. The central bank has fixed the spot trading price at 143.90 through moral suasion.
One-week rupee forwards, which act as a proxy for spot currency, traded at 149.10/20 per dollar at 0553 GMT, a tad weaker from Tuesday's close of 149.00/15.
The one-week forwards have fallen around 3.3 percent since they started to trade after Jan. 27. The central bank, after keeping its monetary policy steady on Tuesday, said, the spot rupee "remained broadly unchanged against the U.S. dollar thus far during 2016".
The central bank on Tuesday said it gauges the impact of its recent tightening measures amid government's efforts to secure a $1.5 billion IMF loan, which is needed to avert a balance of payments crisis.
Rising debts, rating downgrades and revisions by agencies, slow economic growth, widening fiscal deficit, looming balance of payments crisis, and changes in budget proposals, have dented investor sentiment.
The rupee is under pressure due to foreign investors exiting from government securities and economic woes.
Sri Lanka's 2015 borrowing jumped over 25 percent as compared to the previous year due to high cost of refinancing loans, raised by the previous government without parliamentary approval, finance minister said last week.
Sri Lanka's main stock index was up 0.15 percent at 6,041.09 by 0603 GMT. Turnover stood at 358.2 million rupees ($2.41 million).
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