Foreign investors sold approximately USD 5 million worth of Sri Lanka government securities in the week ending 24 December 2025, reversing inflows seen the previous week, Central Bank data showed. The move reflects a broader shift toward safe-haven assets, amid speculation of further U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts.
This marked the fifth week of foreign selling in the past 17 weeks. As a result, foreign holdings in Sri Lankan government securities fell from near a two-year high. Net foreign sales reached Rs 1,545 million (USD 5.06 million at 1 USD = Rs 305), following purchases of USD 2.44 million worth of bonds in the prior week.
The selling coincided with global investors redirecting funds into traditional safe havens such as gold, which surged to record highs last week, buoyed by safe-haven demand and expectations of further Fed rate cuts.
Despite the recent outflows, Sri Lanka has recorded net inflows of Rs 33,855 million (USD 111 million) over the last 17 weeks, and total inflows into rupee bonds since 26 December 2024 have reached around Rs 70.6 billion (USD 231 million).
Analysts noted that Sri Lanka’s deflationary policies and curtailed imports have supported bond inflows, even amid intermittent market shocks such as the Rs 10.1 billion ($32 million) outflow following tariff announcements in early April 2025, during which the rupee also depreciated slightly.
Sri Lanka Welcomes 67,762 Tourists in Early January 2026
Sri Lanka welcomed 67,762 tourists between 1 and 8 January 2026, according to provisional figures from the latest tourism performance summary, indicating a relatively slow start to the year.
The early-January arrivals are lower than full-month figures from previous years, when 252,761 tourists arrived in January 2025 and 238,924 in January 2018, highlighting a softer opening in 2026.
Tourism authorities caution that first-week figures traditionally account for only a small share of monthly arrivals. With the winter travel season underway and additional international flights scheduled, industry sources expect visitor numbers to pick up in the coming weeks.
Sri Lanka’s tourism sector showed steady growth in 2025, with 2,362,521 arrivals, slightly higher than the 2,333,796 recorded in 2018, reflecting a gradual recovery and expansion of the industry.
Officials emphasise that ongoing monitoring of arrival trends will be crucial to determine whether Sri Lanka can match or exceed last year’s tourism performance as 2026 progresses.
Foreign Investors Offload Sri Lanka Rupee Bonds Amid Shift to Safe-Haven Assets
