The rupee appreciated against the US dollar by 0.4%. Given the cross currency exchange rate movements, the rupee appreciated against the euro (3.2%) and the Indian rupee (2.1%), while depreciated against the pound sterling (0.9%) and the Japanese yen (1.3%) during this period. The total outstanding market liquidity was a deficit of Rs. 2.05 billion by end of the week, compared to a deficit of Rs. 12.75 billion by the end of last week.
The reserve money increased compared to the previous week mainly due to the increase in currency circulation and deposits held by the commercial banks with the Central Bank.
Purchasing Managers’ Index for Manufacturing activities expanded at a slower rate in September 2019, recording an index value of 54.7, which is a decrease of 1.9 index points, compared to August 2019.
Purchasing Managers’ Index for Services sector continued to expand in September 2019, yet at a slower pace compared to August 2019, recording an index value of 52.7.By October 18, 2019, the All Share Price Index (ASPI) increased by 0.49 per cent to 5,863.5 points and the S&P SL 20 Index increased by 1.35 per cent to 2,905.3 points, compared to the previous week.
The Weekly AWPR for the week ending October 18,2019 declined by 6 bps to 10.42 per cent compared to the previous week. The IIP in August 2019 has increased by 2.5 per cent compared to August 2018.
Among the major sub divisions of the manufacturing industries, “Other non-metallic mineral products” (30.5%) and “Chemicals and chemical products” (14.3%) have mainly contributed to this overall increase.
Earnings from exports grew moderately by 2.4 per cent (year-on-year) to US dollars 8,031 mn during the first eight months of 2019 as a result of higher earnings from exports of textiles and garments (8.3%), rubber products (1.2%), transport equipment (32.3%), coconut (10.9%) and seafood (8.9%). Import expenditure at US dollars 12,886 million during the first eight months of 2019 decreased by 14.6 per cent (year-on-year) largely due to lower imports of gold (-99.6%), personal vehicles (-54.6%), rice (-92.3%) and fuel (-6.9%).
As a result, the deficit in the trade account contracted to US dollars 4,854 mn during the first eight months of 2019 from US dollars 7,240 mn in the corresponding period of 2018.During the period, crude oil prices showed a mixed performance.
Central Bank Weekly Indicators
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