Standard & Poor’s to discuss funding options for SL issuers
View(s):Sri Lankan issuers have significant opportunities to improve the diversification of their funding sources, says Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) adding that this topic and current credit trends for Sri Lankan issuers will be discussed at a seminar hosted by the rating agency in Colombo on August 16.
Surinder Kathpalia, Managing Director, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, noted – in a media release issued by S&P – that more can be done to improve capital market financing in Sri Lanka. “Currently the corporate debt market in Sri Lanka is very small relative to the government debt market as well as the equity market. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Sri Lanka has outlined a capital market development roadmap which seeks to grow the corporate debt market from US$1 billion in outstanding debt at the end of 2012 to US$10 billion at the end of 2016.”
“Clearly a lot needs to be done to achieve the challenging goal of growing Sri Lanka’s corporate debt market ten-fold in the next four years. Sri Lankan issuers, both financial institutions and corporates, will also need alternate sources of funding until the local corporate debt market develops,” he said.
The seminar titled “Sri Lanka’s Issuers – A Global Perspective” will feature a panel discussion with industry leaders discussing financing opportunities for Sri Lanka’s issuers as well as progress and ideas for capital market development, for example, transparency and disclosure.
The keynote speaker is the Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal while presentations will be made by Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Chairman- SEC; Rajendra Theagarajah, CEO, NDB Bank; Preethi Jayawardena, Chairman, The Finance Company; Patrick Gallagher, CEO, HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives; Ritesh Maheshwari, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific Financial Institutions Ratings, S&P; Kim Eng Tan, Senior Director, Asia-Pacific Sovereign Ratings, S&P and Mehul Sukkawala, Director, Asia-Pacific Corporate Ratings, S&P.
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