Directive on senior citizen deposit limit extension sent to banks

A directive from the Central Bank regarding the extension of the deposit limit for the senior citizen deposit programme with effect from March 1 has already been sent to the banks, both Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy confirmed.

“I also got a call about it this morning but the directive has been sent,” Karunanayake said, which Dr. Coomaraswamy also confirmed.

The senior citizens are now able to deposit Rs.1.5 million and obtain a preferential interest rate of 15 percent. When the programme was introduced in the 2016 budget, the limit was Rs.1 million.

Sri Lanka’s demographics are moving in such a way that over 40 percent of the country’s population will be elderly by 2040.