Tag: sri lanka

Sri Lanka seeks USD 500-million loan from India for fuel purchases amid forex crisis, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Colombo, The Sri Lankan government on Saturday said it is continuing efforts to secure a USD 500 million loan from India to ensure fuel supplies amid a severe foreign exchange crisis in the island nation. “The proposal has been sent to the Treasury for approval and would be submitted to the Cabinet thereafter,” said Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila.

He said the Cabinet had already sanctioned USD 3.6-billion loan from Oman for fuel purchases.

Gammanpila indicated that continuous fuel supplies can only be guaranteed till January next year as the island was facing a foreign exchange crisis and higher global prices.

Long queues were seen at fuel pumps since Thursday due to speculation that retail prices would be hiked by the state fuel corporation.

Lanka IOC (LIOC), the subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation in Sri Lanka, had hiked the retail prices of both petrol and diesel by Rs 5 per litre. The new prices were effective from Thursday midnight in the wake of the rising global oil prices.

State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has asked the government to allow a price hike in view of its losses.

Gammanpila ruled out a price revision for the time being. He also blamed the opposition for spreading rumours of an impending fuel shortage in the country.

The price hike in the global oil prices has forced Sri Lanka to spend more on oil imports this year. The country’s oil bill has jumped 41.5 per cent to USD 2 billion in the first seven months of this year compared to last year.

Sri Lanka is facing a severe foreign exchange crisis after the pandemic hit the nation’s earnings from tourism and remittances, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa had said last month.

The country’s gross domestic product contracted by a record 3.6 per cent in 2020 and its foreign exchange reserves plunged by half in one year to just USD 2.8 billion in July.

This has led to a 9 per cent depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee against the dollar over the last year making imports more expensive.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , , , , ,

Sri Lanka appoints its junior minister of capital markets to head country’s Central Bank, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday appointed Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the sitting junior minister overseeing capital markets, to head the island nation’s Central Bank, amidst a severe foreign exchange crisis that the country is facing. This will be Cabraal’s second term as the Governor of the Central Bank as he has previously served a stint as the head of the institution from July 1, 2006 until his resignation on January 9, 2015. Since August last year he was the Money and Capital Markets State Minister.

“President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed Ajith Nivard Cabraal to head the island’s Central Bank with effect from September 15,” according to an official statement.

On Monday, Cabraal resigned from his position in order to assume the new post, which was left vacant by the resignation of current governor, Prof. WD Lakshman, with effect from September 14, the Colombo Page reported.

The appointment order pertaining to Cabraal has prompted protest by the Opposition leaders, saying that he has serious allegations of fraudulent transactions and also his new posting is a conflict of interest as he is a ruling party politician.

In a statement, the Opposition’s economic spokesman Eran Wickremaratne said that the integrity of the country as well as the Central Bank must be protected by ensuring that a fit and proper person was appointed as the Governor, and “Mr. Cabraal, with multiple allegations of fraudulent transactions and conflicts of interest, does not prove to be fit and proper”.

Opposition maintains Cabraal’s appointment would compromise the neutrality and the independence of the Central Bank.

Lakshman, the previous Central Bank chief, told reporters he was being pressured to resign three months ahead of his planned retirement.

He was also a Rajapaksa appointee in November 2019.

Lakshman’s tenure as the Central Bank head was a bumpy ride. Rajapaksa once summoned the entire Central Bank hierarchy to take them to task over inefficient handling of the economy.

The Central Bank was accused of printing money on a large scale to tide over economic woes during Lakshman’s stewardship.

“So the governor (Lakshman) is retiring after destroying Sri Lanka currency by printing 1.2 trillion to please his political masters,” Harsha de Silva, another opposition legislator, tweeted.

Sri Lanka is facing a severe foreign exchange crisis as the island nation, which heavily depends on tourism and tea exports, was battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Finance minister Basil Rajapaksa has said that state coffers also suffered huge revenue losses due to the COVID-19 outbreak. PTI CORR RUP RUP RUP



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , , ,

SBI YONO crossed 70.5 million downloads and a registered user base of 37.09 million, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Country’s largest lender, State Bank of India‘s flagship digital offering YONO (You Only Need One) has crossed 70.5 million downloads, with a registered user base of 37.09 million and averages daily logins of around 10 million.

The bank laid out the details in its annual report and said it has been operating its analytical potential through AI/ML to increment efficiency, procuring new business and for risk management.
Post retail it added the service for its corporate customers too with five applications viz Corporate Internet Banking, Cash Management Product, Supply Chain Financing Unit, e-Trade and e-Forex. Currently, SBI is functioning to avail an entire digital trade finance solution to business clients on YONO platform.

The bank said, a digital journey has also been initiated for Forex rate booking and document upload facility to enhance customer convenience, which will help the bank increase income from Forex business.

The bank had also launched YONO offering in the UK, Mauritius, Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Canada. As of March 31, 2021, over 40,000 overseas customers have been onboarded on the YONO platform. SBI anticipation to inaugurate YONO in the countries such as Singapore, Bahrain, South Africa, and the USA by the end of FY2022.

The bank said it will continue accelerate its digital agenda as the scope and reach of YONO will be expanded further.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , , ,