Bank of Ceylon reaches historic milestone in record time

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

Bank of Ceylon created history by recording Rs one trillion Balance Sheet at as end May this year. “This is the first time that a corporate entity has achieved this significant mile stone and this could be attributed to strong foundation during the 70 year banking history and working towards a corporate plan. In keeping with the 011012 target – Rs one trillion balance sheet, Rs 10 billion profit and 2012 as the time frame, we were able to achieve both the targets well before the target time,” Bank of Ceylon Chairman Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe told Daily News Business.

“We achieved the Profit of Rs 10 billion in 2010 and Rs 15 billion in 2015. We are now looking at Rs 2.5 trillion Balance Sheet to complement the government’s efforts to double the per capita income to US $ 4,000, he said.

The entire economic activities that lead to GDP need to be doubled to cater to the growth in the per capital income. The BOC is to lead the way in this regard and will be looking forward to be one of the key contributors in the country’s forward march,” he said.

“The Bank of Ceylon (BOC) will be positioned as an international bank in Asia to expand its businesses by attracting foreign customers.

The bank plans to open three branches in India and the re-opening of the Pakistan branch is under consideration.

“We are focusing on the SAARC region and will be seriously looking at Russia. The branch expansion plan also includes USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy and France. We will concentrate on countries that Sri Lankans are residing on a prioritize basis,” he said.

“The BOC disbursed Rs 80 billion funds for the North and the East in post war Sri Lanka and also have supported the development initiatives in the Southern Province by disbursing Rs one billion mainly targeting the fisheries sector.

We provided assistance to difficult areas in South to develop the fisheries industry by providing long haul boats for fishing in the deep sea area.

This was beneficial for the fishing community to improve their living standards which also resulted in growth in the boating industry as the boats were produced locally, he said.

The country needs foreign exchange and the bank was able to secure 50 percent of the total remittances to the country. “The government’s consideration for more capital infusion to the bank will enable it to play a wider role in lending and other activities.

The bank intends to increase the capital base and the government support is vital as it will also help create more liquidity,” Dr. Wickramasinghe said.

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