Sri Lankan ended 0.2 percent firmer at 176.30/45 per dollar, compared with Wednesday's close of 176.65/80, on exporter dollar sales, market sources said. Analysts, however, expect the currency to weaken as money flows out of stocks and government securities.
The rupee gained 0.1% last week and is up 3.4% for the year. Exporters had converted dollars as investor confidence stabilised after a $1 billion sovereign bond was repaid in mid-January. The rupee dropped 16% in 2018 and was one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia. Foreign investors sold a net 433.2 million rupees worth of government securities in the week ended May 15, extending net foreign outflow to 21.2 billion rupees so far this year, central bank data showed.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

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