Sri Lanka plans to sell 20 per cent stake in state banks to strategic investors or the public, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.
“I propose that 20 per cent of the shares of the two Large state-owned banks should be given to strategic investors or the public to improve capital and support the future growth of the two state-owned banks to reduce the burden on taxpayers’ funds,” he said presenting a budget for 2024.
Separately 450 billion rupees will be spent on recapitalizing banks.
“The government is keen to ensure that all prudent measures are taken for long-term banking stability,” he said.
“To this end for systemically important banks, an independent asset quality review supported by the IMF program was conducted.
“The preliminary results of this asset quality review indicate the need to build additional capital accumulation on a prudent basis.
“Accordingly, I propose to allocate Rs. 450 billion to support the capital improvement process in the banking:
system.
Source: Economynext
