Nations Trust Bank enables growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

Nations Trust Bank is engaged in positioning itself as a partner to the SME (small and medium enterprises) sector, supporting them for long term prosperity, in the role of a responsible financial intermediary.

Employing over 70% of the working population in Sri Lanka, SMEs are responsible for nearly a third of the country’s industrial output with a sizeable contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Production (GDP). And yet, SMEs are faced with multiple challenges whenever market disruption happens, as evidenced during the Coronavirus pandemic, the bank said in a media release.

“Nations Trust Bank has embraced its duty to support the SME sector and partner them in their long-term growth journey. We use a combination of tailor-made financing packages, digital technology, cutting edge banking solutions, and advisory services to uplift SMEs backed by a suite of cash management products and services designed to help businesses,” Arosha Liyanaarachchi, Nations Trust Bank’s Senior Vice President – Commercial Banking, said.

“Nations Trust Bank’s unique solutions for the SME sector are designed in a way to make each SME business a value creator to the national economy and facilitate those businesses to achieve success and continue to thrive with a long-term plan. The bank works closely with SME businesses with high potential by offering them continuous professional advice and guidance, as well as various financial solutions based on the specific needs of the different stages of the business life cycle. This also includes efficiency improvement tools to streamline their administrative work, which enables smooth and efficient workflows and allows owners to focus on developing their core business,” the release said. 

According to Nations Trust Bank, it aims to divert capital to SME businesses and grow them to the next level, thereby further strengthening a manufacturing economy. This in turn will develop a vibrant national economy where the bank is actively engaged with SMEs to grow through the life cycle of each business and even facilitating such businesses to venture out to overseas markets. The bank has supported SMEs to adopt digital technology for greater efficiencies in line with post pandemic consumer preferences, in cost management and to generate data for better decision making.