"The Central Bank of Sri Lanka on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka is currently planning an issuance of an International Sovereign Bond of up to USD 1,000 million in the international capital market at an appropriate maturity," the bank said.
Sri Lanka has selected four investment banks -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citibank NA, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd as Joint Lead Managers, Bookrunners and Underwriters for the proposed Sovereign Bond issuance.
Analysts said the move was aimed to add to its dollar reserves and give the central bank more space to defend the weakening rupee.
The rupee hit a record low of 132.20 against the dollar late April.
The currency has suffered over 16 per cent depreciation since mid November of last year.
The central bank stopped defending the rupee by selling reserves early February this year.
This will be Sri Lanka's fifth sovereign bond since it first sold a USD 500 million 5-year euro bond in October 2007.
