The Sri Lankan rupee closed October at Rs. 332.61 against the US dollar, a fall of 6.8 percent in value since the start of 2026, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
The rupee ended September at Rs. 330.83 and ended 2025 at Rs. 309.99, the Central Bank figures show. The weakening therefore continued through October.
The year-to-date depreciation stood at 6.3 percent at the end of September, according to the CBSL’s External Sector Performance report for September. The October figure of 6.8 percent is the latest reading.
The same report put Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves, including the swap facility with the People’s Bank of China, at US$6.9 billion at the end of September 2026.
Background
The CBSL publishes the exchange rate daily and reports on the external sector each month. The gross official reserves figure it gives includes the swap facility with the People’s Bank of China, as well as the Central Bank’s own holdings.
The rate of Rs. 309.99 at the end of 2025 is the base against which the 2026 fall is measured. The movement from Rs. 330.83 at the end of September to Rs. 332.61 at the end of October is a change of Rs. 1.78 in one month.
The depreciation figure measures how much the rupee has lost in value against the dollar. That is not the same as the rise in the rupee price of a dollar over the same period, which is a larger percentage.
What it means
A weaker rupee raises the rupee cost of anything priced in dollars. In Sri Lanka that includes imported fuel, medicines, machinery and many food items, so households and importers can face higher costs when the exchange rate moves in this direction.
For Sri Lankans abroad, the same movement means that each dollar sent home buys more rupees than it did at the end of last year. Workers and families who send money through official channels receive the rate in force on the day of the transfer.
Exchange rate movements also feed into the import prices of fuel and raw materials, which in turn can affect transport fares and the cost of goods in the shops.
