The Central Bank of Sri Lanka will commence operations at its Regional Office in Nuwara Eliya on 17 January 2016 to further expand its regional presence to promote financial inclusion and to facilitate economic activities in the region. The Nuwara Eliya Regional Office is to be declared open by Mr. Arjuna Mahendran, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, with the participation of the senior management of the Central Bank and senior officials of commercial banks and government institutions.

At several high level fora conducted in the Central Province, the Central Bank has been requested to open a branch office in the Nuwara Eliya District, particularly to enable plantation sector workers to obtain their superannuation benefits as members of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) with greater ease. Since the Nuwara Eliya District is primarily a plantation sector dominated District, with the opening of a new Regional Office in Nuwara Eliya, the Central Bank will be in a better position to give priority to EPF related operations in the Nuwara Eliya and Badulla Districts, whilst engaging more effectively in the following activities.

1. Coordinating and guiding financial institutions with regard to development lending;
2. Implementing concessionary credit schemes introduced by the Central Bank and enhancing awareness of these schemes;
3. Enhancing access to finance in the region, coordinating awareness programmes on financial inclusion, conducting public awareness programmes primarily focusing on farmers, commodity traders and investors in the region;
4. Central Banking related activities such as data collection, coordinating and conducting surveys, and conducting educational programmes; and
5. Facilitating credit counseling

With the opening of the Nuwara Eliya regional office, the Central Bank will have 7 regional offices. The other regional offices are in Matara, Anuradhapura, Matale, Trincomalee, Jaffna and Kilinochchi.