CB buys US$ 1.76bn in dollars in 2025

Sri Lanka wrapped up another year of elevated foreign currency purchases by the Central Bank in 2025, helping to prevent undue movements in the rupee while rebuilding foreign exchange reserves.

According to available data, the Central Bank purchased a net US$ 222.5 million in foreign currency in December 2025, bringing the full-year total to US$ 1,758.2 million.

This was below the US$ 2,845.7 million recorded in 2024 and US$ 1,895.9 million in 2023, periods during which vehicle imports were suspended and several other imports were under controls.

The purchases helped the Central Bank end the year with gross official reserves of US$ 6,825 million in 2025, under one billion dollars higher than the level at the start of the year. Reserves could have been higher had the Central Bank received the US$ 347 million sixth tranche under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, which was originally due by mid-December 2025.

The dollar purchases also helped limit the rupee’s depreciation to under 5 percent in 2025, following two consecutive years of appreciation during which the currency strengthened by about 22 percent against the dollar.

The Central Bank’s ability to purchase dollars was supported by record-high remittances, export earnings and tourism receipts.

Worker remittances rose 22.8 percent to US$ 8,076.2 million, while merchandise exports in the first ten months of the year increased 5.2 percent to US$ 17.1 billion.

Of this, goods exports rose 6.4 percent to US$ 11.4 billion, while services exports increased 2.7 percent to US$ 5.8 billion.

However, the trade deficit widened amid higher imports as vehicle imports resumed and stronger economic growth lifted overall demand.

Imports rose 13.8 percent year-on-year to US$ 17.5 billion, with October imports jumping 26.7 percent to US$ 2,157 million.
As a result, the trade deficit expanded to US$ 6.2 billion, up from US$ 4.7 billion a year earlier.