SL banks to present data on seniors for 12% interest move
View(s):The Central Bank (CB) has requested the Sri Lanka Banks’ Association – on behalf of all commercial banks – to collect data on how many senior citizens maintain accounts in these institutions, officials said
This has come on the back of the SLBA urging the CB and the Treasury to extend a scheme applicable to state banks to cover losses in paying high interest rates to senior citizens, to all banks.
“We are in the process of collecting the statistics of senior citizens maintain accounts. There are about 10 more commercial banks that are yet to send the data. We’ll present the collected data to the CB this week,” Upali de Silva, Secretary-General – SLBA told the Business Times.
In the 2015 budget, state banks have been instructed to offer a 12 per cent annual interest rate for deposits of pensioners and elders. To cover any deficit between lending and borrowing rates, the Treasury is to float a $30 billion bond issue at 12 per cent interest in which state banks can invest.
CB sources said they will discuss the implementation of this proposal with the SLBA this week once they peruse the data.