Banking
Bank of Ceylon launches “Diyawara Diriya- 2” to Uplift the Fisheries Sector in the Country
View(s):Bank of Ceylon ventured into the fisheries sector 38 years ago, in 1975, and contributed to the development of this sector. The Bank also successfully implemented 26 loan schemes to enhance the fisheries community in the country. At the beginning the fisheries sector was considered as a non bankable group of people with their own style of living but Bank of Ceylon as the Bankers to the Nation was the first to came forward to provide banking services to this sector. By the year 2000, BOC had become the market leader in financing for the fisheries sector development.
At present, 40% of fisheries communities representing 2.5 million are customers of Bank of Ceylon. The remaining fishing community is still at large as a non bankable group of people. To attract them to the banking system and to upgrade their livelihood, BOC has introduced a small group financing concept. Further several programmes have been already been conducted by the Bank to improve the financial literacy and entrepreneurship training for the fishing community in the country.
Bank of Ceylon is the only bank to introduce a scheme such as “Diyawara Diriya”- a tailor-made scheme developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development. The stage one, of this scheme was introduced with the view of making “The National Fisheries Plan” a reality. Bank of Ceylon has released loan facilities worth Rs 1.0 Billion under this scheme to more than 900 recipients. This loan scheme was introduced island-wide to facilitate finance for both the marine and inland fisheries industries and this became popular in the Northern Province. Under this scheme the fishing community could obtain loans for multiday boats, OFRD boats and day boats.
BOC has launched “Diyawara Diriya Stage 2” recently. The second phase of this loan scheme is based on simple securities and on low interest rates. Bank is expected to grant loans worth Rs 2.0 Billion under the second phase of “Diyawara Diriya”. The honorable Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, Dr. Rajitha Senarathna, Hon. Deputy Minister Sarath Kumara Gunarathna, Bank of Ceylon Chairman President’s Counsel Razik Zarook graced the launching ceremony on 19th August 2013 at the Bank of Ceylon Auditorium.
Bank of Ceylon was awarded Asia’s Best Brand award 2013 by the Chief Marketing Officer’s Council (CMO Council) based in Mumbai, India. Brand Finance Lanka ranked Bank of Ceylon as the No.1 brand for the last five consecutive years and the bank is also ranked among the top 1000 banks in the world above all other Sri Lankan banks (country ranking is No.1) by “The Banker” magazine UK in 2013. BOC has penetrated half of the population in the country with 10 million account holders with over 1,000 customer touch points covering all parts of the country and only Sri Lankan bank with international presence in Chennai, Male and banking operations in UK. Bank of Ceylon is the only bank in Sri Lanka with an asset base of over Rs.1 trillion and is the market leader in the banking and financial services sector in Sri Lanka.
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