NDB celebrates 40 years of service to the nation
Although a cabinet paper was presented in 1969 for the formation of the National Development Bank (NDB), the change of the government in 1970 saw the cabinet paper falling into an abyss.
However the proposal was revised in 1977 with the change of government and in 1979 the National Development Bank (NDB) was formed with six Central Bank staff officials from the Department of Development Finance, said NDB Group CEO Dimantha Seneviratne on the 40th Year Anniversary of the NDB held at the Head Office in Navam Mawatha, Colombo on Tuesday.
“NDB got the first line up credit from the World Bank to be disbursed among Small and Medium Enterprises. We provided finance to tea, rubber, coconut, and to the cinnamon industry and for various other agricultural products, for power generation and construction project such as cement industry and for other export oriented industries.”
He said the NDB went public in 1993 with an initial public offering (IPO) with 61 per cent of shares from the government and private placement from Asian Development Bank and the Citi Bank and the Commonwealth Development Corporation. Established in 1979 as the National Development Bank of Sri Lanka, the NDB today has grown to become a fully -fledged financial service conglomerate operating in the island with a network of over 150 ATM RMs and in total 111 branches.
Meanwhile the bank has embraced digital future with 70 per cent of its transaction done via digital channels. The bank has empowered its customers by offering a host of digital tools such as mobile and online banking in addition to the bank’s first Phygital (a combination of digital and real-life experiences) Branch. NDB Bank is the first and to date the only corporate in Sri Lanka to officially be certified with EDGE Certification for a premier retail bank serving millions of Sri Lankans through a host of financial services. From its inception, the NDB Group includes NDB Bank, NDB Capital, NDB Investment Banking, NDB Wealth and NDB Securities in the development of the nation.
NDB Chairman Kavan Ratnayake said that he recognised the bank’s customers and its shareholders and thanked them for remaining with the bank. He said the cornerstone of the bank depends on the commitment to technology and it shall continue to invest on modern technology that will make NDB the most advanced bank in the country. Meanwhile an appreciation of the past Chairmen and CEOs who contributed to the success of the bank’s journey of 40 years also took place. Among them were NDB’s former Chairmen and CEOs – Dr. Nimal Sanderatne, Hemaka Amarasuriya, Sunil Wijesinha, N.G. Wickremeratne, Ananda Atukorala, Ranjit Fernando, Eran Wickramaratne, Russel de Mel and Rajendra Theagarajah.