jan 20 reuters  sri lankan shares closed lower on thursday weighed down by losses in industrial and financial stocks after an increase in interest rates by the countrys central bank to control inflation failed to lift investor sentiment  conglomerates expolanka holdings plc expocm and softlogic holdings plc softcm were the top drags on the index falling 1 and 6 respectively  as expected by many economists the central bank raised the key deposit and lending rate by 50 basis points each read more  the central bank is shifting its focus to controlling inflation curbing imports and attracting foreign capital as it looks to build reserves amidst the island nations worst financial crisis in decades  some analysts believe the country could face its firstever default unless it increases dollar inflows despite sri lankas reiteration of its commitment to repay the entire 4 billion owed to investors in the rest of 2022  foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market offloading shares worth 214 million rupees 106 million exchange data showed  trading volume rose to 2556 million shares from 2059 million shares in the previous session reporting by anuron kumar mitra in bengaluru editing by shailesh kuber