Rupee rises on dollar sales by banks, exporters

REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee ended firmer yesterday as dollar selling by exporters and banks outpaced importer demand for the US currency, dealers said. The spot rupee ended at 152.45/55 per dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 152.70/75.

“There was selling today, lots of exporter conversions were there,” said a currency dealer, requesting anonymity.

The rupee has been under pressure since January after the Central Bank stopped defending the currency and started buying dollars to build up the country’s depleted foreign currency reserves.

The island nation had seen Rs.27.5 billion of net inflows into equities up to Thursday’s close, and Rs.5.7 billion worth inflows into government securities as of August 23, official data showed.