The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 100 million dollar loan for Sri Lanka to address ‘complex and challenging structural reforms’ in its financial sector.
“This initiative builds on earlier banking sector reforms and aims to broaden access to finance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, with a strong focus on empowering women-led enterprises,” said ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono.
The loan builds on the structural reforms addressed in the previous two ADB lending programs totaling 400 million dollars since the country’s economic crisis in 2022, the global lender said.
“The program will strengthen stability, capital adequacy, risk management, and governance of the banking sector, thereby strengthening financial regulators to be better equipped and prepared to manage a financial crisis. This will help boost public confidence in the financial system and safeguard public interest.
“The program will also promote financial inclusion, while promoting sustainability to help enhance financial intermediation and the flow of credit to end-borrowers.”
The program also aims to enable improved access to finance for businesses across diverse sectors of the economy.