May 29, 2006 (LBO) – Bank of Ceylon, Sri Lanka's biggest state owned lender in terms of assets, is confident of making a 4.5 billion profit before taxes for the full year 2006-7, a top official said Monday. Sri Lanka has 10 domestic banks, of which two are state owned Bank of Ceylon and the People's Bank which dominate the market, accounting for about half the country's banking assets. "We have had a steady growth in our business despite the various government taxes, and numbers up to May indicate that we are on target to achieve our year end figures," the bank's General Manager, S N P Palihena told LBO.
