The reaffirmation of Commercial Bank’s status as one of the largest lenders to the SME sector comes in the 2022 Annual Report of the Ministry of Finance, which shows that the Commercial Bank accounted for 34.2% of the total loans provided to the SME sector by commercial and specialised banks.
Commercial Bank lent Rs 195.852 billion of the Rs 619.891 billion in loans provided to SMEs by the 18 institutions last year, while the number of loans granted by the Bank was 43,427 of the total of 126,899 loans granted in the reviewed year.
Commercial Bank’s contribution was particularly evident in the industries category, with the Bank accounting for over half of the total number of loans provided to the category by all banks.
Commercial Bank’s Managing Director/CEO Sanath Manatunge said: “In our journey of fulfilling our vision and mission as well as our duty as a bank that is systemically important to the national economy, it is deeply satisfying to see that we are making a truly significant contribution to the SME sector, even in challenging times. This is made possible by our continued commitment to this all-important segment supported by dedicated processes and infrastructure to cater to specific needs of SMEs.” To revitalise businesses that are under-performing due to various reasons, the Bank setup a Business Revival and Rehabilitation Unit in 2020 to proactively support businesses that show early warning signals. During the year under review, the special unit assisted many SMEs while providing support services to regenerate their momentum.