Reuters - The Sri Lankan rupee ended marginally weaker on Friday as importer dollar demand outpaced selling of the U.S. currency by exporters and banks, dealers said.

The spot rupee ended at 152.80/85 per dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 152.70/80.

“There was importer dollar demand today and not much exporters in the market,” said a currency dealer, requesting anonymity.

The rupee has been under pressure since January after the central bank stopped defending the currency and started buying dollars to build up the country’s depleted foreign currency reserves.

The island nation had seen 27.8 billion rupees ($182.06 million) of net inflows into equities up to Friday’s close, and 5.7 billion rupees worth inflows into government securities as of Aug. 23, official data showed.