Category: Banking and Finance

Apr 17, 2012 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has assigned Sri Lanka’s Bank of Ceylon (BOC) long-term foreign- and local-currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of ‘BB-‘ with stable outlooks. Fitch has also confirmed BOC’s national long-term rating and its outstanding subordinated debentures at ‘AA+(lka)’ with a stable outlook and ‘AA(lka)’, a statement said. Fitch has also […]

Mar 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Banking Corporation (PABC) said its chairman A G Weerasinghe will step down from April 02 and will be replaced by Nimal Perera. Weerasinghe will remain a director. Eshana De Silva has been appointed deputy chairman and Anthony page as senior director also from April 02, the […]

Mar 28, 2012 (LBO) – International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank said it is training Sri Lankan bankers in trade finance to help provide better services to customers to interact with the global markets. During the training program, participants were taught how to structure basic and complex trade finance transactions, improving risk […]

Mar 23, 2012 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has confirmed Bartleet Finance Limited’s long- and short-term financial institution ratings at BBB- and P3 but revised the outlook to negative from stable, a statement said. At the same time, the long-term issue rating of BFL’s 204 million rupee unsubordinated unsecured redeemable debenture has also been confirmed […]

Mar 23, 2012 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has given People’s Leasing Company’s proposed commercial paper issue of up to a billion rupees an ‘F1(lka)’ National Short-term rating. PLC itself is rated ‘A+(lka)’ with a stable outlook, a statement said. “The proposed issuance will be utilised to finance PLC’s working capital / lending.” Of the […]

Mar 22, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s licensed finance companies have revived but asset quality is expected to be pressured with rising interest rates and inflationary pressures, RAM Ratings said in a report on the sector. But in future, RAM Ratings said the industry’s asset quality is expected to be pressured, testing the strength of […]

Mar 22, 2012 (LBO) – Central bank ‘moralsuasion’ on commercial banks in Sri Lanka may have to be strengthened if current credit demand prevails, Treasury secretary P B Jayasundera said. He said the monetary authorities will wait and watch how the economy responds to recent interest rate hikes and curbs on lending. The economy is […]

Mar 20, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banking regulator has tightened regulation of finance companies, ordering those firms that are not licensed finance companies to remove words relating to finance from their names. It is also not applicable to an association of finance companies formed for the protection of their interests, trade unions which are […]

Mar 16, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Standard Chartered Bank is planning to double business from small and medium enterprises over the next three years with a specially tailored platform of products and services, officials said. Rajeev Chalisgaonkar, head of SME in South Asia said in India, deposits and advances in the business segment grew […]

Mar 16, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned National Savings Bank disbursed more loans through branches in 2011 than in the past after it decentralised lending, chief executive H M Hennayake Bandara said. In the year ended December 31, 2011, interest income fell 1. 4 percent to 43.2 billion rupees while interest expenses fell at […]

Mar 14, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has asked banks to limit credit to buy motor cars, in a bid to reduce imports, as the country faced balance of payments pressure and lost more than a quarter of its foreign reserves. The Central Bank said vehicle dealers had built up large inventories of […]

Mar 10, 2012 (LBO) – Credit to business from Sri Lanka’s commercial banks fell to 44.5 billion rupees in January 2012 from 60.2 billion rupees a month earlier, but credit to the state zoomed to a new monthly peak 73.7 billion rupees, official data showed. Rising state borrowings from the banking system, particularly central bank […]