[caption id="attachment_118212" align="alignright" width="373"]
Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle[/caption]
The special deposit account (SDA) facility that was announced by the Government last year, amidst the initial outbreak of the pandemic, had attracted total deposits of approximately $ 400 million as of January 2021.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle confirmed that the total deposits under the SDA facility has surpassed this amount. “Last month, the SDA roughly had between $ 400 and $ 500 million,” Attygalle noted.
However, an exact figure for deposits under the SDA facility could not be obtained, as attempts to reach the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) in this regard proved futile.
In this context, speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Sampath Bank Senior Deputy General Manager Tharaka Ranawala said that even after the resumption of this service, people living abroad have been very keen on making deposits under this facility, as they are seeing good returns.
“Even after resumption, which started in November 2020, we have had a growth of at least about 15-20% in comparison to the previous figures between April and October 2020; hence, by referring to these figures, we have done pretty well, as a lot of people are enthusiastic about the SDAs,” Ranawala concluded.
The Sunday Morning Business also spoke to a senior official from Commercial Bank of Ceylon, who wished to remain anonymous, who said that people are now much more eager in terms of investing, and this has also driven continuous improvement in the growth of SDAs.
“However, while this is on a positive note, we also expect lending to pick up its space in the market again,” the official added.
An official from Bank of Ceylon, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that people are making deposits; however, after the resumption of the SDA facility in October 2020, the amount being deposited from people abroad has slightly reduced.
“This time it's a little bit lower than last year, but there is a positive impact, and there are remittances coming into the country,” the official noted.
The SDA facility was introduced by the Government on 8 April 2020 to seek assistance for the national effort to overcome the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak in Sri Lanka. Initially, it was only valid until 7 October 2020; however, due to a substantial increase in foreign exchange, and the benefits of it coming into the country, the CBSL extended the SDA facility in December 2020, stating that the “Government decided to extend the validity period of opening SDAs up to 7 April 2021, on the recommendation of the CBSL Monetary Board”.
The CBSL added: “Considering the favourable effects of retaining such foreign exchange within the country, the Government of Sri Lanka has allowed SDA holders who wish to keep maturity proceeds of their SDAs in Sri Lanka beyond the designated date of maturity to renew and continue their SDAs as normal deposits with authorised dealers.”
Accordingly, the funds held in SDAs may continue to be held in the form of normal deposits, through which people will be eligible only for the interest rates offered by authorised dealers for normal-term deposits of the respective banks.
Under these conditions, upon maturity, such funds are:
Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle[/caption]
The special deposit account (SDA) facility that was announced by the Government last year, amidst the initial outbreak of the pandemic, had attracted total deposits of approximately $ 400 million as of January 2021.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle confirmed that the total deposits under the SDA facility has surpassed this amount. “Last month, the SDA roughly had between $ 400 and $ 500 million,” Attygalle noted.
However, an exact figure for deposits under the SDA facility could not be obtained, as attempts to reach the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) in this regard proved futile.
In this context, speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Sampath Bank Senior Deputy General Manager Tharaka Ranawala said that even after the resumption of this service, people living abroad have been very keen on making deposits under this facility, as they are seeing good returns.
“Even after resumption, which started in November 2020, we have had a growth of at least about 15-20% in comparison to the previous figures between April and October 2020; hence, by referring to these figures, we have done pretty well, as a lot of people are enthusiastic about the SDAs,” Ranawala concluded.
The Sunday Morning Business also spoke to a senior official from Commercial Bank of Ceylon, who wished to remain anonymous, who said that people are now much more eager in terms of investing, and this has also driven continuous improvement in the growth of SDAs.
“However, while this is on a positive note, we also expect lending to pick up its space in the market again,” the official added.
An official from Bank of Ceylon, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that people are making deposits; however, after the resumption of the SDA facility in October 2020, the amount being deposited from people abroad has slightly reduced.
“This time it's a little bit lower than last year, but there is a positive impact, and there are remittances coming into the country,” the official noted.
The SDA facility was introduced by the Government on 8 April 2020 to seek assistance for the national effort to overcome the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak in Sri Lanka. Initially, it was only valid until 7 October 2020; however, due to a substantial increase in foreign exchange, and the benefits of it coming into the country, the CBSL extended the SDA facility in December 2020, stating that the “Government decided to extend the validity period of opening SDAs up to 7 April 2021, on the recommendation of the CBSL Monetary Board”.
The CBSL added: “Considering the favourable effects of retaining such foreign exchange within the country, the Government of Sri Lanka has allowed SDA holders who wish to keep maturity proceeds of their SDAs in Sri Lanka beyond the designated date of maturity to renew and continue their SDAs as normal deposits with authorised dealers.”
Accordingly, the funds held in SDAs may continue to be held in the form of normal deposits, through which people will be eligible only for the interest rates offered by authorised dealers for normal-term deposits of the respective banks.
Under these conditions, upon maturity, such funds are:
- Freely convertible and repatriable outside Sri Lanka on any future date
- Permitted to be transferred into an inward investment account or a personal foreign currency account, if the account holder is eligible to open or currently maintain such an account