Job losses in banking sector

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 October 1998, 19:28 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government will close down 31 branches of the state owned Bank of Ceylon by the end of this year said Jeyaraj Fernando Pillai, the Minister for Planning and Implementation responding to a adjournment question by Opposition MP Karunasena Kodithuwakku in Parliament today.

The opposition MP accused the government of planning the imminent privatization of the Bank of Ceylon and the People's Bank, the two state owned giants in Sri Lanka's banking sector.

The privatization of the two banks is a politcally sensitive issue because together they employ one of the largest and politically effective white collar work force in the island.

The minister said that the banks are a major financial liability on the government mainly because they are top heavy with an excess work force imposed on the two institutions by politicians.

He revealed that the government plans to close down 65 branches of the Bank of Ceylon by the year 2000.