Sri Lanka, Oct. 19 -- Foreign investors purchased Sri Lankan rupee-denominated government bonds for a third consecutive week in the week ended October 16, according to Central Bank data, despite slight downward pressure on the rupee.

With the latest inflows, Sri Lanka has recorded net foreign buying in 16 of the past 18 weeks.

Offshore investors made net purchases of Rs. 364 million (US$1.1 million) worth of rupee bonds in the week ended Friday (16).

The latest purchases brought net foreign inflows into rupee bonds to Rs. 5.5 billion over the past three weeks, following outflows of Rs. 16.5 billion during the preceding two weeks.

The inflows lifted foreign holdings of government securities to Rs. 202.4 billion.

Analysts said foreign ...