Lanka calls for global coalition to tackle rising dollar

Sri Lanka on Tuesday called for a "coalition of the willing" to help stabilise free-falling emerging market currencies around the globe, as the beleaguered rupee slumped to fresh lows.

The island's currency bottomed out at a record-low 174.12 rupees to the dollar, resisting a slew of measures by policymakers to arrest its steady decline.

The rupee has shed more than 12 per cent of its value this year and Sri Lanka fears it could slide further as US sanctions squeeze Iran, the island's chief source of oil.

A stronger dollar has made it difficult for emerging markets to repay debts and battered global currencies from Turkey to India and Argentina. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera invited those nations experiencing currency crises to visit Colombo and hash out a strategy.

"The rise of the dollar is having a serious impact on our currencies. We are not the only one affected," he told reporters in the Sri Lankan capital.

"I want to build a coalition of the willing to deal with this problem. I don't see the global situation improving any time soon."