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Sri Lankan rupee ended weaker on Monday at 177.30/50 per dollar, compared to Friday's close of 177.15/25 after the main opposition party named a hard-line former defence chief as its presidential candidate, to capitalise on public clamour for a decisive leader.

The currency was down 0.2% for the last week, but is up nearly 2.9% so far this year.

Foreign investors bought a net 0.61 million rupees worth of government securities in the week ended Aug. 13. But the market has suffered year-to-date net foreign outflow of 28 billion rupees, central bank data showed. The market expects to hear a list of policies from former defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa as well as the ruling party's presidential candidate who is yet to be announced, dealers said.

Gotabaya, 70, served under his older brother, ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, and is widely seen as the front runner in a presidential election that must be held before Dec. 9. Gotabaya is immensely popular among the powerful Sinhala Buddhist majority, who credit him with ending the island nation's 26-year-long civil war in 2009.

Copyright Reuters, 2019


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