The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake
Ravi Karunanayake questioned why People’s Bank continues to charge loan interest rates of 17–18 percent despite lower administrative costs, declining interest rates, and increased profits. Referring to the difficulties faced by SMEs, he asked whether the bank’s lending rates could be corrected and reduced to around 8–10 percent.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, my first supplementary to the Hon. Deputy Minister is this. In my view we pay 3%–4% cost of capital. You stated that the 2024 administrative cost is 3.2%. While we promise to lend at low rates, People’s Bank is charging 17%–18% on loans. Why are loans given at such high rates? Can this be corrected within People’s Bank? SMEs are going through a very difficult period. Here, you show that profits have increased; interest rates have fallen; administrative costs have decreased. Then why can’t we lend at around 8%–10%?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 5 February 2025 ·No. 1739175806099814 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/26774
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/26774