Reaffirming its leading role in promoting grassroots financial inclusion and entrepreneurship, HNB PLC was once again declared the Best SME Bank in Sri Lanka at the Asiamoney Awards 2023.

Organised to showcase excellence among leading banks in the Asia Pacific region, this year’s awarding process followed stringent evaluations of financial performance and strategic business models in addition to weighing in feedback from customers and competitors.

“SMEs are essential to the Sri Lankan economy, generating 52% of GDP, and creating livelihoods for more than 45% of Sri Lanka’s entire workforce. At every step of its development, HNB has actively worked to and empowering grassroots enterprises, and we have supported many to grow into fully fledged corporates of national and even global significance.”

“In the face of persistent economic volatility, our work in developing and strengthening the SME sector takes on even greater importance. We are grateful to Asiamoney for recognizing our efforts, and most importantly, to all of our teams on the ground who continue to take on the challenge of supporting SMEs to navigate this challenging time, and plant the seeds for economic revival,” HNB DGM – Retail Banking Group, Sanjay Wijemanne said.

The roots of its commitment to partnering grassroot enterprises goes back all the way to the bank’s inception in Sri Lanka’s hill country in 1888. According to HNB Deputy General Manager – SME and Micro Finance, Rajive Dissanayake, the bank’s mission to serve as a partner in progress to these grassroots enterprises is now evolving.

“The advances we are making in digital banking, combined with the unmatched expertise and deep personal relationships that we have cultivated with SMEs over generations has the potential to create an entirely new paradigm in SME development. Throughout the COVID pandemic, our first priority was to channel as much support into getting past daily operating challenges.”

HNB News