Hotline for State bank info

Anjana SAMARASINGHE

The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) together with Central Bank of Sri Lanka has initiated a project to provide information on services offered by the 10 state banks to the public through the government information centre hotline 1919.

Director Regional Development Department of Central Bank of Sri Lanka W. M. Karunaratne said at the initial stage this service will mainly focus on providing banking information on key areas.

The information will be on deposit taking saving accounts, credit schemes, foreign exchange transactions, special development loan schemes implemented by the Central Bank and banking clarifications.

The new project will enable the public to obtain information on interest rates, loan amounts, and the other documents they need to submit when obtaining loans without visiting these banks and other banking procedures.

“However this service will not provide personal information such as the development on loan applications submitted by the applicant for the respective bank. We will implement this in the next stage,” he said.

The Government Information Centre (GIC) holds information on more than 1000 services offered by 55 Government departments.

GIC receives 1,500 calls per day and it has handled one million calls since its establishment.

ICTA Director Wasantha Deshapriya said they are maintaining a strong data base with accurate data extracted from the relevant Government departments. “We will be providing the same information for the same questions asked by the public.

“We will also update our database when the banks update their information or administrative changes that may occur.” If a person needs further information, the CB has appointed a coordinating officer from the relevant bank to assist them, he said.

Central Bank Governor Ajith Cabraal said there should be balanced regional development in the country.

“There should be micro level development and rural masses need to have easy access to finance,” he said.

“The rural masses need to be educated on the ways of easy access to finance.

New projects will enable rural masses on the services offered by the bank”.

Deputy Governor Dr. Rani Jayamaha said the local banking system has not been fully automated.