The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 08 July 2020, decided to reduce the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 100 basis points each, to 4.50 per cent and 5.50 per cent, respectively. The Board arrived at this decision with a view to inducing a further reduction in market lending rates, thereby encouraging the financial system to aggressively enhance lending to productive sectors of the economy, which would reinforce support to COVID-19 hit businesses as well as to the broader economy, given conditions of subdued inflation.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) entered into agreements to begin the process of developing Blockchain Technology Based Shared Know-Your-Customer (KYC) proofs of concept (POCs) on 7 July 2020. CBSL identified the potential benefit for Sri Lanka’s financial services in 2018 and initiated an inter-industry study of Blockchain Technology, with the voluntary participation of the banks as well as the IT industry. CBSL decided to pave the way for Blockchain Technology based financial service solutions in Sri Lanka developing a Shared  KYC solution. The CBSL advertised inviting companies with experience in developing Blockchain Technology based solutions for Shared KYC to join this project on a voluntary basis. Upon receiving a number of applications, the CBSL selected three applicants to develop POCs concurrently.