Regional Development Bank opens first branch in the North

Regional Development Bank (RDB) recently opened its first branch in Vavuniya in the North adding the 250th branch to its entire network portfolio.

Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal and RDB Chairperson Janaki Kuruppu at the ceremonial opening of Vavuniya branch

RDB which has set up shop in all other corners of the island during a 25 year period hopes to offer services to help open a new chapter in the lives of the citizens of Vavuniya. Vavuniya, which was affected by the war during conflict times, is now ready to begin a new life and therefore door to door financial services offered by the RDB would both strengthen and encourage accelerated development within the area.

Encouraged by the response received from the people of the area where the first deposit amounted to Rs. 30 million, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal who flew down to Vavuniya accompanied by RDB Chairperson Janaki Kuruppu stated that the opening came at an opportune time when Vavuniya was readying itself to move over and get a new lease of life. “There are many rural banks that has stopped in these areas but its accessibility is low as they cannot provide the ideal service the community is looking for,” Cabraal said, “They must change their attitudes according to its locations and give the services and products the people of the area crave for.” Outlining the importance of loan distribution in developing areas of the economy, he stated that in the Mahinda Chinthana plan which forms the development path for the country in the next few years, strengthening of each and every person was a highlight. “Developing and strengthening business is equally important to strengthening the human base of the country,” he noted.

“By helping such enthusiastic people, we are creating new job opportunities in the future.” The importance of RDB is that the money collected from the area goes into the development of the area itself and not to a central network.

“It is the initial encouragement that will go a long way,” Cabraal said, “people will do the initial stage of development what must be added is sophisticated management and better skill development. In short capacity building should be a main priority.”

He noted that the CBSL has advised banks and financial institutions that set up branches in the area to open an SME Centre to impart knowledge to the community. “Growth of the country this way would be widely distributed and would create optimism in the country.”

Cabraal also added that he would much rather see small companies coming up and becoming strong enterprises than seeing big companies setting up businesses in Sri Lanka. “It is a matter of pockets of affluence vs. regions of affluence,” he said. “RDB would help create such opportunities in the area.”