The President’s Media Office yesterday said the rupee is stabilising if not appreciating after its sharp fall last week.
Noting that measures to curb COVID-19 and the global pandemic exerted pressure on the rupee, by 30 March, it began to slide against the dollar. It fell to Rs. 191.99 and from that point onwards, began to steadily fall. On 7 April, the dollar exchange rate plunged from Rs. 193.75 to Rs. 199.40 and two days later, it touched Rs. 200.47.
The President’s Media Office said however multiple developments saw the rupee appreciating against the dollar to Rs. 195.49. Yesterday, as per the Central Bank, the selling rate of the dollar was Rs. 195.4796
The President’s Media said banking import of non-essential items, appeal to the Sri Lankan expatriate community to remit foreign currency were among factors that helped stabilise the rupee. A flood of donations to the President’s COVID-19 fund has helped as well. The amount received as of yesterday was Rs. 737 million.
The statement also cited many corporate top executives deciding to take pay cuts instead of laying off employees as contributory factors.
“The rupee has already started to recover because of this collective effort,” it added.
It said that at a recent meeting with the secretaries to the ministries, the President discussed the need to ease the curfew to allow public and private sectors to return to work without undue impediments. The need to protect the local economy was emphasised. Ministries were instructed to provide the necessary support for agrarian and fisheries sectors as well as other businesses to recover. The President also advocated exploring business avenues to create new economic trends.
The President’s Media also said in the Global Response to Infectious Diseases index, Sri Lanka and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa have been ranked at the ninth position. This is an index designed to rank the efficiency and effectiveness of the leadership of the country and the preparedness of its health system to combat COVID-19.
“While it is clear that Sri Lanka has been successfully containing and controlling the COVID-19 threat, it is also clear that the crisis is far from over. We are still fighting with an invisible enemy that we have not yet understood fully. The fact that this is a global pandemic further complicates the issue. Staying safe while rescuing our economy from a changing world are the challenges before us,” the statement added.
(FT)