The Sri Lankan rupee has maintained its appreciation trend from late 2023 into 2024, despite experiencing some depreciation pressures in May and June 2024.
This upward trend has been supported by improved liquidity conditions in the domestic forex market during the first half of 2024. Contributing factors include higher forex inflows from workers’ remittances, increased services exports, and the conversion of proceeds by merchandise exporters.
Overall, the rupee recorded an appreciation of 6.6% against the US dollar up to July 23, 2024. However, rising import payments and net outflows from the government securities market in May and June led to Central Bank intervention to supply foreign exchange and mitigate intraday fluctuations.
