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The People's Bank will continue to implement its June 2001 - Strategic Plan without any reservations, Chairman, Lal Nanayakkara said.

While supporting national policy goals and the aspirations of the people, the bank will not be at the expense of commercial banking tenets, he said.

The bank works in unison with the Government to institutionalise the reforms, so that unforeseen circumstances do not stymie in the future.

In continuing with the strategic Plan, the Chairman is not under 'political pressure. "As I took over the Chairman's position, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the Government will not fund the People's Bank in the future as it has done twice in the past.

That means that the bank will have to be financially strong to face future challenges successfully, Mr. Nanayakkara said.

For the financial year ended December 31, 2001, the bank was able to record a turnaround after tax profit of Rs. 308 million compared with a loss of Rs. 1,839 million the previous year.

The bank's Chief Executive Office, Derek J. Kelly attributed the success to remarkable growth in customer deposits inclusive of foreign currency deposits, pawning business and growth of loans and advances.

In June last year, the bank put its new strategic plan into action. "The task is daunting but the results have already proved to be encouraging and we are forging ahead implementing the new plan with urgency, courage and confidence," Mr. Kelly said.

At present, the bank is executing strategies to leverage the vast untapped potential of the bank.

Mr. Kelly said that the bank faces an 'uphill struggle made no easier by the varied expectations of so many stakeholders. Historic ill-judged lending has left the bank with non-performing advances amounting to Rs. 25.4 billion.

The slowness of the legal system and attempts to interfere with due process makes debt recovery a laborious task. The hole in the balance sheet causes many impediments forcing the bank to operate in a more risk averse manner than many of its competitors, he said.

Referring to the bank's financial performance for the year ended December 2001, Chairman, Nanayakkara said "the annual report is a story of a classic dilemma where there are no quick fixes, magic wands and the luxury of time. It spells out the actions initiated since starting the implementation of the bank's strategic plan."

The bank has published its Annual Report within five months of the year-end is an indication of the new vigour that is permeating the bank.

The cover of the annual report this year too symbolises the upward trend of the bank - from dark to light.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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