Banking industry joins Lankan chorus against UNHRC moves

The leading commercial and specialised banks via the industry body Sri Lanka Banks Association (SLBA) yesterday joined the majority Sri Lankans who are opposing moves by UNHRC to pass a resolution against the country.

In a statement SLBA said its members were highly disturbed by the attempts made by some countries to pass a resolution against Sri Lanka in the United Nations Human Rights Council and interfere with the progress that has been and is being made by the Government of Sri Lanka in achieving ethnic harmony and reconciliation among all communities.  

“We believe that such interference would bring in new tensions and disrupt the process which has already begun. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in Sri Lanka has presented a number of far-reaching recommendations which will be implemented in due course and we believe that they would help re-establish ethnic harmony and provide equal opportunities to all communities,” SLBA said.



The leading commercial and specialised banks via the industry body Sri Lanka Banks Association (SLBA) yesterday joined the majority Sri Lankans who are opposing moves by UNHRC to pass a resolution against the country.

In a statement SLBA said its members were highly disturbed by the attempts made by some countries to pass a resolution against Sri Lanka in the United Nations Human Rights Council and interfere with the progress that has been and is being made by the Government of Sri Lanka in achieving ethnic harmony and reconciliation among all communities.  

“We believe that such interference would bring in new tensions and disrupt the process which has already begun. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in Sri Lanka has presented a number of far-reaching recommendations which will be implemented in due course and we believe that they would help re-establish ethnic harmony and provide equal opportunities to all communities,” SLBA said.

After the elimination of a 30-year-long conflict, the country has established a historically unprecedented growth and it is taking all possible steps to bring in prosperity across all races and communities.  It should be noted that economic development will play a pivotal role in the reconciliation process and accelerate return to normalcy.      

Both public and private banks in Sri Lanka are conscious of their responsibility in nation building and ethnic harmony.

Immediately after the eradication of terrorism, together with the Government, the banking sector facilitated the resettlement process and assisted in the livelihood operations by providing banking facilities to the north and east, which have been highly appreciated by the people in these areas. In this process, almost all banks have established well over 100 branches and service centres in the north and the east. Several countries from around the world have praised their efforts.

Having achieved the status of an emerging middle income country, the leading banks in Sri Lanka have also started to expand inter-bank relationships and explore new business opportunities with several international banks including their correspondent banks in leading financial capitals abroad.

In fact, many of their Western country correspondent banks have been the lead managers in Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt issues and have also promoted short and medium term debt issuance by the major banks in Sri Lanka. In their own way, the banks in Sri Lanka have supported the foreign banks, business community and investors to further their operations and explore business opportunities in the country.

“We hope that all countries would appreciate the well-established mutual trust between our countries and use such goodwill to enhance business and investment opportunities in a growing market, especially in the context where such countries are being plagued by lack of growth, high unemployment, uncertainty of the health of their banking systems and sovereign debt crises.  We trust that the international community would respect the need for a home grown solution to ethnic harmony in Sri Lanka and time and space be given to implement the recommendations of the LLRC,” SLBA added.