National Savings Bank growing from strength to strength

Indunil Hewage

Chairman, National Savings Bank, Sunil S Sirisena. Picture by Nissanka Wijeratne

The National Savings Bank (NSB) has been a leading bank in Sri Lanka for the past 41 years since its establishment in 1972 and it is the leader in the country's rupee saving market with a significant market share.

In an interview with the Daily News Business, Chairman, NSB, Sunil S Sirisena, reveals the future of the NSB growth strategies.

The 41 years of success in Sri Lanka

The National Savings Bank was formed in 1972 through an Act of Parliament in Sri Lanka by amalgamating four savings institutions. The proposal to establish NSB was presenteded by then the Finance Minister Dr. N.M. Perera.

In 2013, the NSB celebrated its 41 years being a success in Sri Lanka and today is among the key generators of the financial stability and economic development of the country.

The National Savings Bank (NSB), is the only Bank in Sri Lanka with a 100% government guarantee on peoples’ deposits and interest and is the only local Bank to receive the ‘ AAA (lka)'National Long-term rating for the 10th Consecutive Year.

Currently it has 16 million accounts and its reach is unparallel and has 227 branches islandwide.

We currently offer a wide range of product portfolios and cater to the diverse needs of its customers.

NSB Vision

The main objective of the bank is to promote saving habits among the people of Sri Lanka and steps have already been taken to inculcate saving habits specially among schoolchildren and among the 4.2 million households in the country.

We play a leading role in creating an entrenched savings culture among Sri Lankans.We have taken various initiatives to teach children to save. I am very much concerned about the Postal service banking segment as well as the school banking segment. We have already implemented various programmes to inculcate saving habits among local schoolchildren in the country through these school banks. All these schoolchildren can open their own accounts in these school savings banks and ultimately we would be able to collect a huge amount of money through these banks.

An entrenched savings culture among Sri Lankans would achieve important goals at both individual level and for the country as a well.

Today, saving and deposit rates are coming down not only in Sri Lanka but also in other major global economies. If we need to develop the country, the saving rate should be around 25-30%. As the saving leader in the country, NSB has a huge role to play in order to fulfill the huge gap between saving and investment ratio to the GDP. We need to increase our domestic savings to finance the ongoing development projects in the country and a high savings rate would allow us to meet our investment needs domestically, supporting the government's commitment towards being a developed country, without borrowing from other countries and their investors.We have already rolled out a special plan for 2103 to support NSB's ongoing expansion plans, increase saving rate and to support Sri Lanka in becoming a wonder of Asia. NSB has today transformed into a modern retail bank that provides tailor made solutions for its diverse customer base. We have continued to sustain growth and extend our support to our customers and the national economy as a whole. As the world economy faces one of the most difficult and devastating economic crisis in history, our economy seems to be stable, compared to the recent developments in the world economy and remains positive. We are proud of our achievements, but also aware of the new challenges and opportunities ahead. I want to see what is going to happen to the Sri Lankan Banking industry for the next 25 years, consequently, we would plan out the NSB future vision, future growth strategies, investments.

NSB commitment towards national economy

The Government of Sri Lanka invited us to get involved in its ongoing development and investment programmes and has given the necessary approval for us to go for a dollar bond. Money would be raised to support the governments ongoing development process.

Our potential has always been utilized to support the national development drive and our business operations have always had a wider developmental approach. We believe in creating sustainable communities where we operate. NSB has disbursed a significant amount of agricultural loans to a large number of farmers living in different areas in the country to uplift their livelihoods.

NSB in collaboration with the Government of Sri Lanka has undertaken necessary measures to empower the people of Sri Lanka as well as to uplift the local economy. I believe, it is our duty to assure a sustainable economic development and higher living standards for our citizens.