Exchange Rates on 24-Mar-09 

(1) The average rates of the following currencies quoted by commercial
banks in Colombo.


Currency	               Buying Rate	Selling Rate

U.S. Dollar		113.30		114.93
Sterling Pound	165.89		169.20
EURO		154.20		157.61
Swiss Franc	100.14		103.10
Canadian Dollar	92.14		94.86
Australian Dollar	79.57		81.92
Singapore Dollar	74.99		76.73
Japanese Yen	1.1539		1.1823


(2) The approximate exchange rates of GULF Currencies, based on
previous day’s market weighted average rate for the US$ are as follows:

Country                 Currency	            Indicative Rate

Bahrain		Dinar		302.43
Kuwait		Dinar		393.78
Oman		Rial		296.11
Qatar		Riyal		31.31
Saudi Arabia	Riyal		30.40
UAE		Dirham		31.04


(3) The Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPLR) and the Lowest
Prime Rate (LPR) during the week ended 20th March, 2009 by all commercial
banks were 18.65 per cent and 11.00 per cent respectively.


(4) The Average Weighted Deposit Rate (AWDR) of commercial banks for the
month of February, 2009 was 11.55 per cent.