Colombo (News1st): The Sri Lankan rupee rose 0.5% yesterday (Jan 31), as foreign investors purchased government securities, while the Fitch Rating agency revised down the forecast for the currency for 2019 and 2020.

Fitch Solutions Macro Research, a subsidiary under Fitch Group in a report revised its average forecast for the rupee weaker to 186 per U.S. dollar for this year and 192 in the next year, from the previous 177 and 183 respectively.

It said, “We expect the rupee to continue weakening over the short-term due to worsening terms of trade, although the pace of depreciation is likely to ease from what was seen during the November/December 2018 constitutional crisis.”

Market sources told Reuters that the rupee closed at 178.40/60 per dollar, compared with Wednesday’s close of 179.30/60. On January 3, the Rupee dropped to an all-time low of 183.00 against the dollar.

The currency has appreciated by 2.4% so far this year.