Sri Lanka bonds up again, bills lower

Jan 14, 2008 (LBO) - Sri Lanka bonds edged up slightly Monday but 3-month bill yields are expected to move down further at Wednesday's auction, dealers said.

In the secondary market 3-month bills were trading at 18.

45/19.00 percent against a weighted average of 20.



12 percent at the last auction, while 6-month bills were quoted at 18.

90/19.25 and 12-month at 19.00/19.40.

Bonds with only slightly longer maturity (13.03.09) which are chased by foreign investors were quoted much lower around 19.

00/10 percent.

However it was up from Friday's close of around 18.

30 percent. Two year bonds maturing in 01.11.2010 were quoted at 17.40/50 up from lows of around 16.



90/17.00 on Friday.

Meanwhile 01.11.10 bonds are available on tap at 17.00 percent, dealer said.

Over the week ending January 9, over 37 million dollars worth of bonds had been bought by foreign rupee bond buyers.

Foreign investors now hold 55.2 billion rupees worth of bonds, according to official data.

The spot dollar traded around 108.

15/20.