A net outflow of foreign investment amounting to US $ 90 million was recorded from the rupee-denominated government securities market in April 2020, resulting in a cumulative net outflow of US $ 451 million during the first four months of 2020, the Central Bank said yesterday (22).

There were no foreign investment flows in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) in April 2020 due to the suspension of trading from mid-March 2020 until mid-May 2020. Therefore, net outflows from the CSE stood at US $ 28 million in the first four months of 2020.

Gross inflows on account of long term loans to the government amounted to US $ 137 million in April 2020.

Gross official reserves stood at US $ 7.2 billion at end April 2020, equivalent to 4.5 months of imports. Total foreign assets, which consist of gross official reserves and foreign assets of the banking sector, amounted to US $ 10.3 billion at end April 2020, equivalent to 6.5 months of imports.