The central bank chief last week said around $5 billion borrowing in the pipeline could help debt repayments. The rupee has declined 4.7 percent since a political crisis started in October. That crisis had dented investor sentiment and delayed Sri Lanka's borrowing plans. A series of credit rating downgrades after the political crisis have made it harder for Sri Lanka to borrow as it faces record high repayments.
The Colombo Stock Index ended 0.3 percent firmer at 5,978.30 on Friday. The bourse fell 0.16 percent for the week. The benchmark index lost 5 percent in 2018. ** Turnover was 460.8 million rupees ($2.54 million), less than last year's daily average of 834 million rupees. ** Foreign investors were net sellers for the first time in four sessions. They sold a net 22.9 million rupees worth of shares on Friday. They have been net sellers of 2.07 billion rupees worth of stocks so far this year and 15.5 billion rupees since the political crisis began on Oct. 26. The bond market saw outflows of 86.7 billion rupees between Oct. 25 and Jan. 16, the latest central bank data showed.