• Says successfully weathered the most challenging year in its history
• Says only $ 24 m left in payables

By Darshana Abayasingha

Bank of Ceylon (BOC) went into the red in 2022 but is now back playing in the black and Chairman Kanchana Ratwatte this week invited the business community to stay with the bank “and take any next steps, as the bank is ready to face the challenges”.

BOC has cleared its balance sheet, and has just over $ 24 million in payables, which will be cleared next week, the Chairman stated.

Addressing staff and stakeholders of BOC, Ratwatte described 2022 as the most challenging year faced by the institution, as it had made projections for the year based on the Central Bank’s then figure of single digit interest rates and inflation, plus, the rupee at 202 to the dollar. He said the bank was “taken by surprise” when it was informed in March the rupee would be floated, and the rupee hitting up to 380 to the dollar by May before it was “restricted again at Rs. 365”.

Ratwatte said: “On the 12th of April, when the Government of Sri Lanka announced a restricted default, we had other issues arising where our counterpart banks got worried and wanted their dollars back. On that day, we had an international exposure north of $ 1 billion. They were breathing down our necks saying we want this money, out of which a significant portion was for the funding of petroleum products.”

The Chairman enthused BOC had successfully managed its reserves and helped the country stay afloat, and with just $ 24 million to be settled, BOC had also managed a profit before tax of Rs. 27 billion for the quarter-ended 30 September. He admitted matters had to be “kept under the carpet, as it was not in a comfortable position initially”.

“During the course of this year, I met numerous delegates from bilateral agencies, and they had several issues to be addressed by us. Initially they worried about the political stability of the country. There were shortages and queues and general disturbances.

“Finally for any internationally agreeable program there came the question; is there a majority in Parliament? As of now there is relative peace and political stability. If we take a look at the positive picture, we take for 2023, all of the issues we faced in 2022 have now been resolved,” he said.

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