In the wake of a Presidential Directive made at a press conference held at Temple Trees yesterday to all state bank heads to reduce interest rates on loans to between 8% and 12%, Mr. P.V. Pathirana, the CEO/General Manager of People’s Bank has announced that the bank will reduce its interest rates with immediate effect.

Through this scheme, loans for the sectors of Agriculture, Development Projects, Micro Finance, Retail and Trade, Fisheries, Construction, Co-operatives, Property Development, Housing, Tourism and Hotels will see a reduction in interest rates from the previous 19% to between 12% and 14%.

While streamlining its processes to offer a more efficient loan service to the customers of the bank, People’s Bank has notified all relevant departments to take the necessary steps to release the approved home loans of state employees before the 30th of November.

Interest rates on loans to the import and export sectors in the meantime have also been reduced to 11% and 12% respectively. Interest rates for gold pawning have been reduced to between 17.5% and 14%, whilst the value of loans for 22 Karat and 24 Karat gold have been increased to Rs.22,000 and Rs.24,000 respectively.

By reducing the rates of interest for loans in all these sectors, People’s Bank has given great relief to the over 5 million of their loyal customers Mr. Pathirana noted.

Through this initiative, the bank aims to make its fullest contribution towards the government’s plan for economic development of the country, while also strengthening and enhancing the standard of living of the public through the provision of such financial support.

-Daily Mirror 28th October 2009