Sri Lanka Savings Bank Limited geared to uplift the poor and eradicate poverty
Sri Lanka Savings Bank Limited (SLSB) was set up on the 10th of March 2008 as another step towards expanding financial services at grass root level to the general public. The expansion of financial services will expedite the economic growth and create new economic activities and additional employment thereby increasing income of the people. Under this scenario productivity is improved along with the increased efficiency in resources distribution minimizing the risk in financial systems.
The bank’s strategy has been devised based on the government’s rapid development plan of minimizing poverty, malnutrition, providing secondary education for all children, doubling the GDP and per capita income as well as creating employment opportunities with high earnings and empowering agriculture activities and industrial services.
This bank was set up mainly based on savings. The savings rate in countries like Singapore , India , Thailand , and Malaysia is high compared to Sri Lanka. The collecting of savings and investing is a national priority, which will help to improve economic development. Promoting savings leads to control inflation and investment for the country’s development as well as increasing liquid cash position of the people.
Sri Lanka Savings Bank has taken steps to create awareness on how to obtain loan at a reasonable interest rate, invest their hard earned money effectively for their future, select suitable financial institutions and financial instruments. The bank has given priority to small scale money savers and its objective is to improve their savings habit effectively for mutual benefits.
Sri Lanka Savings Bank Limited (SLSB) is to implement three year pronged strategy aimed at effectively contributing to the national economic growth while providing maximum protection for the depositors and increasing shareholder value, providing efficient service for customers, improving skills of the bank staff, under the directions of the Central Bank said the General Manager of the Bank, Adrian Weerasekera .
The SLSB’S three year strategy covers five areas which include providing banking facilities for medium and low income people to improve their living standard and increasing the habit of savings of the urban population, expediting the recovery of nonperforming assets and there by optimizing its returns, said Mr. Weerasekera.
Assets and liabilities management, treasury management, cost and risk management will be improved to gain stability of the bank and maximizing productivity. Human resource practices, and management information systems will also be improved, he revealed. Measures will be taken to introduce staff incentive scheme to make employees benefit in accordance with their performance. This programme includes improvement of standards in assessing work performance of staff.
Bank’s vision is to be the leading banker in Microfinace and to serve the Micro community who are neglected and most often exploited by black market money lenders. Bank’s aim is to serve this sector so that we develop self sustainable societies and inculcate the habit of savings and plough back savings mobilized to those societies to have more such projects. Special deposit products have been launched for this purpose. A deposit scheme titled “Dorin dora Ithurum “, door to door savings programme is implemented by the bank in Borella and suburban towns fulfilling customers banking needs.” Residents and their children living in urban community settlements have been provided with an opportunity to open savings accounts through “Janasevana Swashakthi “deposit scheme which is being jointly implemented with the Urban Settlement and Development Authority. Micro entrepreneurs render a great service in minimizing poverty and uplifting national economy. The low income earners have become victims of money lenders who levy high interest rates due to the failure of the existing monetary system to fulfill their demands for loans in rural areas. These money lenders were in the habit of visiting villages under the guise of saviors hiding their true faces.”our objective is to see the transformation of the bank to be premier banker of micro financing solutions in the island by entering into basics of micro financing such as granting small loans, leasing and money exchange albeit the bank started its operations with the aim of savings.
The bank has partner organizations in all 24 districts to cover the void of a branch network. “These institutions possesses the knowledge to identify potential customers, and maintain close links with the community. We have selected these community based organizations as stake holders(stake holder organizations )” , he said. We pro-
Adrian Weerasekera . General Manager of Sri Lanka Savings Bank Limited (SLSB) vide financial facilities for unsecured start-up micro projects at concessionary interest rates despite facilities being costly.
SLSB’S performance is deemed good, with a RAM rating assigning a long term rating of BBB and short term investment rating of P2. Bank’s spreads are better than those of its peers banks, as well as better operational efficiencies, as indicated by its income to cost ratio. Going forward, we expect the Bank’s performance to improve in line with the anticipated growth of its loan book.
The accolades bank has received from community based organizations are endorsements of our corporate and social responsibility (CSR). We also have several parallel projects selected from the most remote areas of the country, but rich in resources which are unfortunately barely utilized. These projects are an eye opener for the people selected from the close vicinity who are the stake holders and they are mainly the school staff, govt. employees, school children and the visionary leaders of the area. Such projects have awakened the stake- holders to give leadership for initiating more development projects in the area. Bank launched the “Gami Sisu Neguma “rural student upliftment social welfare programme with the aim of creating qualitative growth in education and assist underprivileged students as well as to uplift the living standard of villagers living Gotaimbaragama, Gurunnehegeara, Thalamporuwa. Gotaimbara junior school in the Hambantota district has been selected to cultivate green gram , banana, papaw and other crops in a four acre block of school lands to assist students of low income families to further their higher education and to improve overall education. Pav wewa was reconstructed with the assistance of the Angunakolapellessa Divisional Secretary and the Ministry of Economic Development. A seminar for year five scholarship students was conducted for the benefit of students of Gotaimbara junior school and surrounding schools in the area. Arrangements have been made to launch the Gami Sisu Neguma progamme in another remote school at Dediyagala.