Rupee rises slightly on remittances, exporter dollar sales

The Sri Lankan rupee rose slightly yesterday as exporters sold dollars and remittances boosted inflows, while the gains were capped by importer demand for the US currency in late trade, dealers said.

The rupee which traded at 155.90 per dollar in early trade, closed at 156.05/15 per dollar, recovering slightly from Tuesday’s 156.08/20 close.

It touched an all-time low of 156.20 per dollar on Monday, which was hit on Friday.

“There were dollar conversions by exporters, but the latter part of the day saw some (dollar) demand from a state bank,” said a currency dealer. The rupee has weakened 1.69 percent so far this year after declining 2.5 percent last year and 3.9 percent in 2016.

The currency is expected to remain under pressure on continued importer demand for dollars ahead of the traditional New Year in April, dealers said.