Sri Lanka rupee hits new low of Rs.180: Stocks down 0.34-pct

Nov 23, 2018 (LBO) -  The Sri Lanka rupee dropped to a low of 180.66 against the US dollar following a political crisis, which began a month earlier in the island. The rupee was quoted at around 178.70/179.30 rupees on Friday, down from Wednesday's closing of 178.40/70. The political crisis which began when president Maithripala Sirisena sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister replacing him with Mahinda Rajapaksa, is turning into an economic crisis with the budget getting delayed and also the 2019 debt repayment on hold. In stocks,  Colombo's All Share index closed down 0.34 percent or 20.21 points to 5,929.98.