People’s Bank has tied up with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) to provide a special COVID-19 relief loan scheme to members of CA Sri Lanka whose revenue has been negatively affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signifying the partnership was signed and exchanged by M.A Bonniface Silva – Acting Chief Executive Officer/ General Manager, People’s Bank and Manil Jayesinghe – President, CA Sri Lanka at an event held at the People’s Bank Head Office in Colombo 02 recently.
Also present at the occasion were; Sujeewa Rajapakse – Chairman, People’s Bank, K.B. Rajapakse – Senior Deputy General Manager (Retail Banking), Renuka Jayasinghe – Deputy General Manager (Retail Banking), Ranjith Kodituwakku – Deputy General Manager (Commercial Banking and Digitization), T.D.DeZ. Gunawardena – Assistant General Manager(Credit), A.U.L.A Anzar – Assistant General Manager(Marketing), Tishan Subasinghe – Senior Council Member CA Sri Lanka, Sanjaya Bandara – Vice President, Dulani Fernando – CEO.
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted business activities across the country, including self-employment businesses and individuals, at unprecedented levels. In order to mitigate the impact, the Government of Sri Lanka has taken numerous positive steps including introducing several concessions to many industries. With the aim of providing support to the Government’s initiatives, People’s Bank introduced this special loan scheme for CA Sri Lanka that goes beyond the concessions given by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
Under this loan scheme, several categories of CA Sri Lanka members are entitled to apply for a loan. These include members employed in the private sector or self-employed as well as accounting firms run by the members of CA Sri Lanka. Firms can utilise the loans for working capital purposes such as to pay salaries and wages while self-employed businesses and individuals can use the funds to supplement income loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The maximum loan amount is Rs. 20 million.
CA Sri Lanka is known as the preferred destination for accountancy education in the country with 6,000 Associate and Fellow Members based both locally and globally. The portfolio of CA Sri Lanka members comprise of top management individuals such as Chairmen, Partners, Managing Directors, Vice Presidents, CEOs and CFOs, among other high profile designations, who serve in leading corporates in Sri Lanka and abroad. The institute also has over 44,000 Student Members who are aspiring Chartered Accountants.
Serving the citizens of Sri Lanka for over 58 years, People’s Bank is one of the largest financial institutions in the country. Through its massive network of 738 branches island-wide, People’s Bank has reached more than 10 million customers offering a wide spectrum of financial services. The bank also provides its services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year via its Self-Banking Units: amounting to over 200 across the island. This helps People’s Bank customers to conduct numerous banking transactions with utmost efficiency, without requiring to visit a bank branch in person.
People’s Bank also continues to play a pivotal role in encouraging and empowering scores of industries including corporate, commercial, development, agriculture, small and medium enterprises as well as import and export sectors; supporting a holistic development of communities throughout the island