COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan rupee closed a tad firmer near its three-month high as exporter dollar sales outpaced early importer demand for the greenback.

Currency dealers said they expected the rupee to move within a narrow range in the short term with little volatility after the central bank governor said the rupee would “behave in a stable manner” in the next few months.

The spot rupee closed at 131.15/20 per dollar, firmer from Tuesday’s close of 131.20/25.

The rupee hit a record low of 135.20 on Aug. 28, but has managed to stem further losses since then.

“We expect the rupee to be stable in the short term. But there may be some downward pressure toward the end of the year due to seasonal dollar demand,” a currency dealer said.

“But I don’t think there will be much depreciation due to the downward pressure.”

Globally, the dollar was at 80.04 against a basket of currencies, close to an eight-month trough touched last week as the US government shutdown entered a second week.