Category: Banking and Finance

Dec 13, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings said a ‘BB+(lka)’ rating of Sri Lanka’s Trade Finance and Investment (TFI), a registered finance company, has been confirmed with a stable outlook. “The rating factors in TFI’s strong asset quality, capitalization, and profitability metrics for a small-sized registered finance company (RFC),” Fitch said. “The rating is, however, […]

Dec 13, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned Bank of Ceylon (BOC) has signed a deal with Dubai’s Mashreq Bank for a 140 million US dollar syndicated loan facility, a statement said. Mashreq, one of the top financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates, has a strong franchise in loan syndication anchoring the transaction with […]

Dec 12, 2011 (LBO) – Loans to business from Sri Lanka’s commercial banks hit a fresh high of 54.50 billion rupees in October 2011 to 1,882 billion rupees while central bank credit to the state also rose amid defence of a dollar peg, official data shows. Credit to business grew 33.4 percent in the 12-month […]

Dc 08, 2011 (LBO) – Commercial Bank has opened its first 24-hour outlet near Sri Lanka’s international airport at Katunayake, north of the capital, providing access to banking facilities to travellers. Services offered include exchange of foreign currency and encashment of travellers’ cheques, a statement said. They also include opening of accounts, payment of utility […]

Dec 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Edirisinghe Trust Investments (ETI), a registered finance company which is to be listed on the Colombo bourse, said it plans to open more outlets by March 2012 as its gold finance business expands. Sandun Kumarasiri, ETI General Manager Gold Financing and Sales, said their staff not only has […]

Dec 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s non-bank finance companies should borrow abroad to increase resources they have to lend to the domestic economy, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. In the 1980s amid high deficit spending and loose monetary policy, the currency was continuously depreciated to avoid balance of payments crises. When foreign currency […]

Dec 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank bought a 9. 9 percent stake in Nations Trust Bank for 1. 3 billion rupees Thursday, a source close to the deal said. DFCC Bank bought 22,865,356 shares at 57. 80 rupees each in three crossings or off-market private deals. The deals helped push up turnover […]

Dec 01, 2011 (LBO) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, has given a seven-year, 65 million US dollars financing facility to Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank to expand its lending to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). IFC said it believes that the future flow structure employed in the transaction with […]

Nov 29, 2011 (LBO) – Several Sri Lankan lenders will visit Oman and Qatar in December as part of plans to encourage banks to borrow abroad, Deputy Governor Dharma Dheerasinghe said. To encourage banks in the initial stages the Central Bank will also give some comfort through a swap contract to mitigate foreign exchange risk. […]

Nov 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank, which has the franchise for American Express, has said its credit card business is recovering after being hit by interest rate restrictions imposed by the banking regulator. Renuka Fernando, NTB’s deputy chief executive, said the bank has been able to increase credit card business volumes […]

Nov 25, 2011 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has upgraded LB Finance’s (LBF) long- and short-term financial institution ratings, from BBB+/P2 to A-/P2, with the long-term rating given a stable outlook. The rating agency has also revised upwards the long-term ratings of LBF’s debt issues, s statement said. “The upgraded ratings reflect LBF’s consistently expanding […]

Nov 24, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon is now offering Non-Resident Foreign Currency (NRFC) accounts in Chinese yuan following its inclusion as a ‘designated currency’ by the Central Bank. A statement said the move comes several weeks after the bank began offering customers the option of transacting in yuan for export […]