BOC’s DGM Retail Banking B.K. Gurusinghe said BOC would maintain its unique position as a leading facilitator of development loans and a key contributor to national GDP. He added that during the pandemic the bank’s shift in focus was from loan recovery to business revival.
BOC’s industry-wide standing as ‘Bankers to the Nation’ renders further importance to development loans. The bank provides vital credit facilities contributing to national economic development. An integral part of BOC’s banking product mix, development loans allows the bank to continuously impact national GDP through targeting critical sectors while boosting imports and reducing the import-export deficit. The bank’s national development efforts are reinforced by the strong alignment of the associated strategies with the development aims of the Government, with export, tourism, SMEs, youth and women identified as priority sector lending areas, allowing the bank keener focus in disbursing development loans accurately.
While adhering to government-stipulated regulations in granting such loans, BOC offers the lowest interest rate and maximum repayment period based on income generated, allowing customers an extended grace period.
As a bank with a network of 600-plus branches island-wide, BOC displays a massive sense of responsibility in actively leading the country’s development-focused activities while drawing on its physical infrastructure plus specialist expertise in loan schemes across areas such as SMEs, animal husbandry, agriculture, and fisheries.
BOC’s strength in the area of development credit can be attributed to the numerous circulars fine-tuned over many years plus the tailor-made staff training programs that have allowed for the development of industry-specific loan expertise in areas ranging from fisheries along the coastal belt to paddy-focused loans in areas such as Anuradhapura.
These include the ‘Moratorium for COVID-19 affected businesses’ loan with an ROI of 7% p.a; a special moratorium for businesses affected by the second wave of the pandemic in October 2020; plus the ‘Saubagya COVID-19 Renaissance Facility’ providing an ROI of 4% p.a. for repayment in 24 months along with a grace period of 6 months. BOC’s strength as a key national facilitator of loans extends to other areas of lending equally, with personal loans totalling Rs.414.05 Billion with 351,374 loans disbursed; SME loans equaling Rs.128.8 Billion with 685,506 loans granted; leasing amounting to Rs.30.69 Billion with 29,630 leases; housing totalling Rs.73 Billion with 101,722 housing loans given; and pawning equaling Rs.72.14 Billion with 19,891 loans disbursed.
The conducting of awareness campaigns on critical aspects of loan products complements BOC’s multidimensional loan facilities.
BOC’s approach to loans stands in contrast to that of its competitors, clearly discerned in the specialized clinics hosted across the island, with a shift in focus from loan recovery to business revival a point stressed constantly to BOC customers, especially those who are keen to enter the SME industry, is that BOC is committed to supporting all entrepreneurial efforts.
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