COLOMBO: Sri Lankan five-day rupee forwards edged up on Monday as dollar selling by a state bank and remittances ahead of the Sinhala-Tamil new year outpaced mild importer demand for the greenback, dealers said.
The forwards, which act as a proxy for the spot currency and are called spot next, ended at 146.10/20 per dollar, compared with Friday's close of 146.20/50.
Dealers said the state bank sold dollars at 145.20 levels, possibly on behalf of the central bank, to keep the rupee steady.
Central bank officials were not available for comment.
"There were some remittances as people working in foreign countries usually send money for their family members ahead of the traditional new year," said a currency dealer.
Sri Lanka will celebrate the Sinhala-Tamil new year on March 13 and 14.
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, dealers said.
The one-week forwards, which have been active since Jan. 27 and were hovering near record lows last week, did not actively trade on Monday for a third straight session, the dealers said.
The rupee has been under pressure due to foreign investors exiting government securities and amid the country's economic woes.
Sri Lanka's 2015 borrowing jumped more than 25 percent compared with the previous year due to high cost of refinancing loans, raised by the previous government without parliamentary approval, the finance minister said last week.
The central bank on Tuesday kept key policy rates steady, and said it was gauging the impact of recent tightening measures amid government efforts to secure a $1.5 billion IMF loan, which is needed to avert a balance of payments crisis.
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