Sri Lankan rupee ended at 179.85/95 per dollar on Wednesday, compared with Tuesday's close of 179.80/90. The rupee has climbed 1.5 percent so far this year as exporters converted dollars and foreign investors purchased government securities amid stabilising investor confidence after the country repaid a $1 billion sovereign bond in mid-January.

The rupee dropped 16 percent in 2018, and was one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia due to heavy foreign outflows. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera will present the 2019 budget on March 5. Traders and investors are waiting to see how the market would react to the central bank's surprise announcement on Friday of reducing commercial banks' statutory reserve ratio (SRR) by 100 basis points after the effective date March 1, the sources said.

Copyright Reuters, 2019