Local banks responded positively to changes– CB chief
Many players in the local banking industry have had the foresight to change their own organisation to move with the changing times, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said.
He also said that the banking industry of the country took the initiative to be in step with the times and have taken several impressive initiatives for the cause.
“Banks have brought in new corporate governance structures and brought in new payment and settlement systems which are today one of the best in the world,” Cabraal pointed out.
Cabraal further went on to state that they have upgraded the infrastructure, the payment systems and the information systems
and added that all these are the necessary changes to position the country for the future. “They’ve also brought in supervisory mechanisms that enable us to keep the entire industry steady. They have developed the skills of our people so that they also will be able to, in a robust manner, function in this environment,” he added.
He further explained that Sri Lanka needs to position itself to be able to fashion its strategies to make use of the changes that are taking place and the banks are the catalysts in that environment of change. “This is the challenge before us and that challenge will be immensely felt by the banks,” he said. The CB Governor added that this will need a great amount of positioning, planning and implementation as far as the banking industry is concerned.
Cabraal went on to note Alvin Toffler’s work titled, ‘Future Shock’ in the 1970s and said that Toffler spoke of this situation where you have so many things happening at the same time; sometimes it’s difficult for people to absorb the changes that are taking place. Ajith Cabraal shared these thoughts at the ceremonial opening of Union Bank’s new Headquarters in Colpetty. Meanwhile, the governor commented on a statement made by Union Bank Director/ceo Anil Amarasuriya in his welcome speech, that it was in the early 90s that Union Bank was incorporated and they opened their doors to the public for business. “I just want to give you a few insights as to what the 90s looked like; it is a study we did recently for our Road Map,” Cabraal said.
“What that study revealed was that in the early 90s we had one telephone for every 140 people, we had about 6800 people per one doctor, we had about only 980 banking outlets,” he pointed out. However, the CBSL chief said, today, the situation is completely different. “For every 100 people we have 105 telephones, we have about 6800 banking and other financial outlets spread over all parts of the country and we have about 1400 people only for a single doctor,” he further observed.
“Today, our GDP has grown to around US$ 59 billion and in the next four years, we expect it to grow to about US$ 100 billion. So, it will be a very concentrated growth that we will be experiencing over the next few years,” he added.
Cabraal added that these are random examples of the progress that we have made over the past several years. “Many people are responsible and that includes all of you as well,” he emphasized.
“But, it also tells us that we are on a march which is quite clear and we need to take our own steps in order to fashion ourselves to be a part of that march over the next few years,” Cabraal further stated. He also congratulated Union Bank for taking these initiatives and being a part of this environment to move our country forward. “I’m sure with your blessings as customers and stakeholders, you’ll be able to take this bank forward and with it, see that the industry also moves forward at the same pace,” Cabraal said in his closing remarks.
Union Bank of Colombo PLC (UBC) recently unveiled its new Head Office at Colpetty under the auspices of Ajith Nivard Cabraal, bringing together a combination of state-of-the-art technology, competitive financial solutions and superior service delivery under one roof.
The new Head Office will also house the bank’s subsidiary companies including National Asset Management Limited, offering customers easy access to a wider portfolio of value added products and services.