The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake
Ravi Karunanayake asked the Prime Minister to address the high cost of capital, noting a gap between low market lending rates of around 4 to 5 per cent and the 15 to 18 per cent rates faced by individuals and small and medium enterprises. He sought clarification on whether the Government could intervene or provide a buffer to bring borrowing rates down to more realistic levels, closer to deposit-rate benchmarks.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Prime Minister, you could help us by answering that Question, because, otherwise, there would not be interaction. One area I want to know is, the cost of capital that is there. I would greatly appreciate if you would answer that. That is a question I have asked. Today’s lending rates are in the range of 4 to 5 per cent, but the official lending rates to the people, the small and medium enterprises and all, are in the range of 15 to 18 per cent. So, is there a way you can buffer that and ensure that they are brought down to realistic levels, to the level of rates given for deposits?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 5 February 2025 ·No. 1739175806099814 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 5 February 2025. No. 1739175806099814. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/26755