Sri Lanka: Sirisena Rejects Proposals To Privatize State-Owned Banks

The state-owned banks should be strengthened at all times and there should never be any attempt to privatize them, Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena said this week.

President Sirisena was speaking at the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Bank of Ceylon held at the BMICH, Colombo on Tuesday.

Sirisena said that this had been his stance toward state-owned banks throughout his political career.

Sirisena observed that it was no secret that fraud and corruption, poor management and, exploitative actions of some trade unions, have all dented the productivity of some institutions that generate revenue for the government.

According to Sirisena, it was the state-owned banks like the BOC that have always supported such affected institutions during difficult times.