COLOMBO, Nov 28 (Reuters): The Sri Lankan rupee hit yet another record low against the dollar on Wednesday on continuing concerns about political uncertainty dragging down the island-nation's economy, after a credit rating downgrade by Moody's and the IMF halting a loan discussion last week.
The rupee fell to 180.70 against the dollar, compared with Tuesday's close of 180.50, hitting a fresh low for the sixth straight session.
The rupee has fallen over 17 per cent so far this year, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
Moody's downgraded Sri Lanka last week for the first time since it started rating the country in 2010, blaming the political crisis for aggravating already problematic finances.
The downgrade coincided with a decision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to delay discussions about its loan tranche to Sri Lanka.
A bitter row over President Maithripala Sirisena's sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Oct. 26 and the competing influences of China and India have shattered the island's fragile ruling coalition.
The currency has fallen over 4.0 per cent since the crisis unfolded in late October.
Another report by economynext.com added: Sri Lanka's political crisis should be resolved as soon as possible to enable the launch of a global promotional campaign in March 2019, the head of an industry body said.
"We're planning to launch our global media campaign in March," The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka President Sanath Ukwatte said.
"To arrive at that, we need the tourism authorities to function," he said. "We need to call for tenders and evaluate various submissions by advertising agencies.
"That is why we're telling the government to get on with business," he said.
Sri Lanka is in the midst of a political crisis after President Sirisena appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. The Speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament has said that two no confidence motions were passed against him.
The crisis had led to travel advisories and negative news about legislators loyal to Rajapaksa rioting Parliament.
Hoteliers have said there have been cancellation or re-scheduling of conferences and meetings.
Ukwatte said that with Sri Lanka topping the Lonely Planet list for 2019, and the 'So Sri Lanka' theme being well received by international media, the global campaign has to be launched soon.
Otherwise, he said that there will not be enough tourists to fill the increasing number of hotel rooms entering the national supply.
"Capacity is increasing not in phase with the arrivals," he said. "In order to increase the arrivals to meet the capacity we need to advertise and promote Sri Lanka."
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