COLOMBO (NewsRadio); The average weighted prime lending rate at licensed commercial banks has reduced by further 40 basis points to 14.81 per cent this week.
According to data from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the AWPR at commercial banks was 15.21 per cent last week while it was high as 26.89 per cent a year ago.
The considerable reduction comes after the Monetary Board earlier this year, reduced the policy interest rate during two consecutive months.
According to experts, the bank interest rates will come down further in the next few months despite the Central Bank deciding not to reduce policy interest rates further during last monetary review.
Meanwhile, last month, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka decided to reduce the Statutory Reserve Ratio by 200 basis points.
The Monetary Board decided to reduce the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) applicable on all rupee deposit liabilities of Licensed Commercial Banks (LCBs) by 200 basis points, from 4.00 per cent to 2.00 per cent, with effect from the reserve maintenance period commencing the 16th of August 2023.
This is expected to have a major impact on lending rates in the upcoming weeks.
