Sri Lanka Banks to Lend against Moveable Property from June as CRIB Sets up Secured Transaction Registry

16th May 2011, www.lankabusinessonline.com

Sri Lankan banks will soon be able to lend against moveable property with a new initiative by the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB), an official said.

The CRIB plans to set up a 'secured transaction registry' from June 01, 2011 that will enable registration of moveable assets against which banks can give loans, its chairman Gamini Karunaratne said.

"We aim to enable small and medium entrepreneurs and poor people to borrow," he told Vimasuma.com, our sister news website.

"By allowing people to borrow using moveable property like furniture and vehicles for the first time we can bring SMEs and the poor into the formal banking economy from the informal sector," Karunaratne said.

"It is a revolutionary change in our lending environment."

Sri Lankan banks usually lend only against collateral like fixed assets like land and buildings as they can be traced through land registries.

"In developed countries banks can lend against moveable assets if they are registered," Karunaratne said.

He said the software for the registry was made in Sri Lanka by CRIB software developers instead of being imported enabling considerable saving of foreign exchange.

Related Info :

• CRIB Develops Secured Transaction Registry on Movable Assets by Deploying Locally Developed Software

• Sri Lanka Credit Counselling Centre Sees Lower Loan Defaults with Reduction in Interest Rates