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| Sunday, 22 February 2004 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Central Bank opts for electronic dealings by Hiran H. Senewiratne Central Bank of Sri Lanka has implemented two integrated software systems i.e. - Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and Scripless Security Settlement System (SSSS) to expedite and streamline all financial transactions, said Finance Minister K.N Choksy at a ceremony held at the Central Bank (CB) at the inauguration of these two systems. This would benefit the corporate customers and the public to make their payments instantly. "This constitutes a link between money and economic activities since it involves transferring value between payer and payee". "Therefore, these systems are a key part of the infrastructure, which facilitates all economic activities in the country in a big way", he added. "Under these systems the bank gets the funds immediately, and will facilitate the bank to pass the credit on to the beneficiary customer. If a payment is made by cheque, the settlement of payment has to be routed through the cheque clearing system," he added. "The RTGS system facilitates large value fund transfers and settlement on an electronic basis in real time rather than settling at the end of the day. It will expedite fund transfers among banks, primary dealers, financial institutions, investors, the government and the public. The SSSS system facilitates the issue transfer and settlement of government securities in scripless form or book entry form. CB Governor A.S Jayawardena said that under these new systems Sri Lanka would accrue revenue benefits, since it would eliminate high risk involvement in all business transactions. Since government securities were done electronically, it would help all market participants such as primary dealers, banks and investors, besides creating financial discipline into the banking sector, he said. According to the CB, all payments and settlement instructions to the RTGS and SSSS systems would be sent through the SWIFT communication network, considered to be world's most safe and secure system. |
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