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Sri Lanka’s CB becomes net US$ seller in April for first time in 22 months

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank became a net dollar seller for the first time in 22 months, the official data showed, after it had been buying the U.S. currency to build reserves to meet the targets the island nation agreed with the IMF.

The Central Bank sold US$13 million on a net basis in April this year.

It last sold dollars on a net basis in June 2024.

The Central Bank, however, net bought US$697.2 million in the first four months of this year following a net purchase of US$2 billion last year.

The Central Bank’s net dollar sales also coincide with a 3.7 percent fall in the country’s gross reserves to US$6,579 million in April 2026, down from US$7,019 million the month before.

The reserve fall also comes amid sharp depreciation of the rupee currency. It has depreciated more than 1% in the one-month period through May 8, official data showed.

Sri Lanka has been repaying its multilateral and bilateral loans, though it has yet to resume repaying sovereign bond holders.

The Central Bank has been building reserves aggressively ahead of the repayment of foreign debts to sovereign bond holders. This repayment is scheduled to start from April 2028.

Source: Economy Next