Tour guides request further relief

Tour guides yesterday urged the government to exempt them from the compound interest, which will be calculated during the one-year moratorium relief provided to the tourism sector.

As per Central Bank guidelines, the banks are advised to convert the capital and interest due during the moratorium period into term loans from July 2020 onwards.

However, the tour guides stressed that moratoriums alone is not sufficient, as they have been severely impacted by the Easter bombings.

Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga agreed to discuss their request with the Central Bank.

However, Central Bank’s Banking Supervision Department, Additional Director, Jagath Gamlath cautioned against adding further burden to the banking sector, noting that banks heavily depend on depositor funds to carry out their operations.