COLOMBO, Nov 14 (Reuters): Sri Lanka's central bank unexpectedly raised its key policy rates on Wednesday, a move aimed at defending a faltering rupee currency as foreign capital outflows pick up amid a deepening political crisis and rising U.S. interest rates.
Immediately after the tightening, however, the rupee dropped to a fresh record low of 176.30 against the dollar, underscoring growing pressure on the economy from political turmoil after President Maithripala Sirisena fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last month.
The monetary authority also cut the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) by 150 basis points to 6 percent, to cushion the impact of higher interest rates and to boost credit demand.
"The reduction in SRR is expected to release a substantial amount of rupee liquidity to the banking system, thus reducing the cost of funds of banks," the central bank said in a statement.
The policy tightening comes after Sirisena's firing of Wickremesinghe last month spread political turmoil, worsening a rout in the rupee, which had already been pressured by a broader sell-off across several emerging market currencies.
The rupee has now lost more than 14 per cent of its value versus the dollar this year.
Despite the rupee's fall, analysts polled by Reuters were expecting the central bank to leave the rates unchanged.
Sri Lanka's key rates had been unchanged since a surprise cut in April.
"Hikes to the main policy rates were likely to have been driven by concerns about weakness in the currency," Capital Economics analysts said in a note adding: "Policy over the months ahead will depend on the political situation".
Mahinda Rajapaksa, a pro-China former president, was appointed as prime minister after Wickremesinghe's removal, but Sirisena subsequently dissolved parliament and ordered a general election for Jan. 5.
However, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed president's decree to sack the parliament.
Since Wickremesinghe was abruptly fired on Oct. 26, Sri Lankan stocks have suffered net foreign outflows to the tune of 7.7 billion rupees ($43.8 million), while its government securities saw net foreign selling worth 21 billion rupees.
The stock index dropped nearly 1 percent in early trading on Wednesday.
Higher borrowing rates could hit the $87 billion economy's growth, which cooled to a 16-year low of 3.3 per cent last year due to tight monetary and fiscal conditions, droughts and floods.
"The adjustment to the SRR underlines the central bank's nervousness about tightening policy in the face of weak growth," Capital Economics analysts said.
The country's economic growth is likely to remain subdued and below the envisaged levels in 2018, the central bank said, warning that short term monetary and fiscal stimulus is unsustainable and leads to overheating of the economy.
The central bank also said headline inflation is expected to stay within the targeted range of 4 to 6 per cent next year.
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