To improve quality of life:

BoC reduces interest rates

The premier State bank in Sri Lanka Bank of Ceylon(BOC) has reduced interest rates in keeping with the recent directives issued by the Government. Under this scheme public servants and Service personnel can obtain housing loans at four percent interest rate for upto Rs 500,000 and eight per cent for upto one million and 11 per cent for loans upto 3 million. All others can get housing loans at an interest rate of 12 per cent, said Chairman BOC Dr. Gamini Wickremasinghe. He said that this initiative is expected to create an economic stimulus at village level be it in construction, employment generation. When the village economy gets a stimulus the quality of life of the people will improve.

Dr. Gamini Wickremasinghe

In addition the bank has also reduced interest rates for loans given to exporters and importers. The present rate applicable is 12 per cent for exporters and 14% for importers.

The bank also gives loans for agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry and SMEs at an interest rate of 12 per cent.

Dr. Wickremesinghe said that service personnel can apply for loans through the relevant regiment while the public servants can apply through the department heads.

In the event if all the necessary documents are in place we will release the money within one week of submitting the application.

He said people who are in the Services as a tribute to the service rendered by them to save the motherland from the LTTE will get an efficient and priority service at all branches of the BOC. This was a request made by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

In addition the bank gives loans to support the dairy farming in the country. Under this scheme the bank gives loans upto Rs. 400,000 in three stages for the purchase of cows and to build shed as well as for construction of the bio gas plant.

We provide loans but we need a small security, said Dr Wickremasinghe. BOC has had a strong presence in the North East even during the conflict with 26 delivery points in the Northen Province and 214 in the Eastern province. Today this is increasing and the bank spreads its outreach to far-off locations such as the island of Delft, south west of Jaffna, Vakarai, a fishing village north of Batticaloa, Silavathurai, Mannar and Nanattan.

Dr. Wickremasinghe said that Rs. 2.5 bn each for the North and East has been allocated for micro finance activities where the interest rate is 8 per cent.

BOC has a speedy delivery system and when banking facilities were needed overnight at Wanni IDP camps, the bank established six mini banks in converted containers within IDP settlements. Even during the conflict BOC kept three branches in the un-cleared areas of Wanni.

With normality restored in the North and East, BOC has put in place an accelerated and focused program for the development of the two provinces in line with the rest of the country.

This program is a multi-pronged one focusing on poverty alleviation, micro finance, value chain management, nucleus farm models, market linkages and the service sector.

Our credit facilities are attractive and the reputation of the bank is good therefore private sector too is attracted to the bank with the recent scandals in the private sector financial institutions, said Dr. Wickremasinghe.