The Finance Ledger

  Figure 1 : People’s Bank Logo As we all know People’s Bank is one of the top five commercial banks in Sri Lanka. It is the second largest state-owned commercial bank right after Bank of Ceylon (BOC). Recently, People’s Bank reported an astonishing mid-year Profit Before Tax (PBT) of LKR 28 Bn, recording it as the all-time high of the bank’s history. According to the mid-year financial statement, the bank has made a significant improvement in their financial performance. Following are some Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of People’s Bank as of 30th June 2025. Indicator 30th June 2025 31st December 2024 Change (%) Profit Before Tax (PBT) LKR 27.98 Bn LKR 2.61 Bn 970.2 Profit After Tax (PAT) LKR 18.21 Bn LKR 1.53 Bn 1088.5 Total Deposits LKR 3.12 Tn LKR 2.85 Tn 9.48 Basel III Leverage Ratio (Min. requirement - 3%) ...

Title: The Importance of Trust in Debt Securities: Pan Asia Primary Dealer Ban Extended Date of Publication: Friday, August 15, 2025 4:33 pm Source: EconomyNext - http://www.economynext.com/ By K.M.S.K. Herath –(236047D) Debt securities are essential in Sri Lanka's financial sector, comprising Treasury bills and bonds issued by the government to raise funds. Investors like banks and individuals find these a secure investment with interest returns. Primary dealers, being authorized financial institutions, buy such securities from government auctions and resell them in the secondary market. Their functions are to arrange successful auctions, introduce liquidity to investors, maintain uniform interest rates through active transactions, and act as intermediaries between the government and investors. Dysfunctional behavior of primary dealers may result in auction failures, price instability, and investor doubt, thus pointing out their significance . Image   from:   https:...

News Summary. SMEs are quite significant to the Sri Lankan economy. They generate over 50%of the GDP of the country, and give employment to approximately 4.5 million of its citizens. However, SMEs have issues of poor access to finance, excessive regulations, and poor government support. Recently, SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva, Ceylon United Business Alliance(CUBA), had a proposal on how these issues can be solved to allow SMEs a greater role in the economy. Dr. Harsha de Silva's proposals 1.Export-focused Diplomacy                 Sri Lanka brought commercial officers and ambassadors to train at an economic diplomacy program   with the Havard kennedy School in 2017 on commercial promotion of Sri Lankan exports. This program was stopped, and embassies have not played a role in helping exports. Harsha put forward the proposal to revive it by putting trade officers of the export development board in embassies. These officers would liaise wit...