Senior citizens to get 2% more from FCs

2 January 2015 04:02 am Views - 3300

Licensed finance companies in Sri Lanka may pay an additional interest rate of two percent, above the maximum interest rates stipulated by the Central Bank for savings deposits of persons who are over 55 years of age from January 1, 2015.



Accordingly, the Central Bank said the maximum interest rate for savings deposits by a person over 55 years shall be 9.58 percent per annum.Meanwhile, the maximum interest rate for fixed deposits accepted or maintained for a maturity period of one year or less shall be 13.01 percent annum, for maturity period of over one year and up to three year shall be 14.01 percent and for maturity period of over three years shall be 15.51 percent per annum.
Under existing rules, finance companies are mandated to pay one percent additional interest rate on senior citizen deposits.


Central Bank on Tuesday directed all state and private banks to pay minimum 12 percent interest rate per annum for savings and fixed deposits of senior citizens who are above 60 years of age with effect from January 1.It (Central Bank) said the government will issue a bond to all the participating banks in this at 12 percent to cover additional costs to the banks.


However some economists have questioned the rationale behind special interest rates for senior citizen deposits, when the country’s inflation hovers around low single digit levels.Sri Lanka’s headline inflation picked up to 2.1 percent in December 2014 from a year earlier, and from a fiveyear low of 1.5 percent in the previous month, amid higher food prices in the festive month.