Demand for advances increase - HDFC
Anuradha Kodagoda
“With the dawn of peace in the country and due to the development
projects which are already started within North and East Provinces, the
demand for advances has increased, said CEO/General Manager, Housing
Development Finance Corporation Bank of Sri Lanka, (HDFC) Suresh
Amarasekera.
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Experts in the housing finance market say the demand for housing
loans has increased due to the reduction of interest rates and
the dawn of the peace. Here a block of houses under
construction. |
“We expect this trend to continue and with the reduction of the
interest rates we expect the property market also to develop and at the
same time to develop the same trend in the stock exchange,” he said.
“Compared to the comparative period last year the HDFC has gained
Rs.21 million profit and however this year’s first quarter the loss is
about Rs.51 million. This should be compared with the interest
receivable from the EPF that is due in March.
“In addition to that although the market conditions are not
conducive, there is a decline in non-performing advances. Our
Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio has come down and it is a favourable
decrease compared with last year and the majority of our branches have
improved their recovery ratios, thereby it has a direct impact on
reducing the NPL ratio,” he said.
“There is a special re-finance scheme introduced by the Central Bank
for the North and the East Provinces to provide financial facilities for
various industries that are operating in these areas.
Therefore the HDFC is hoping to expand the business in these areas as
soon as possible and also hoping for a better demand in advances and
better growth in deposits” he said.
“Currently, there is a positive tendency of interest rates falling
down and if the trend continues further we can predict a favourable
increase in the profit level for the next quarter. Basically last year
and the first quarter of this year we were curtailing the lending and at
the same time there was a less demand for advances. However, due to
interest rates getting lower now the trend is keeping on changing in a
positive manner,” he said.
In the meantime the HDFC has expanded the service in Horana and
Piliyandala by opening two branches in these cities last month and is
also expecting to open three more branches during next two months. All
these branches are with ATM facilities and modern technology is
available with friendly access to the customers. |
