ETI gets $ 11 m more, total by end July

Edirisinghe Trust Investments (ETI Finance) has received an additional $ 11 million of the $ 43 million that was earmarked to be utilised to repay depositors of the troubled finance company, the Central Bank said. 

Deputy Governor C.J.P Siriwardena told reporters that the initial investment of $ 75 million was divided into three segments. The first tranche of $ 32 million was received last month, and 10% of it was used to start paying depositors in June. A second tranche of $ 11 million was received on Thursday.  

A third tranche of $ 32 million, which was initially supposed to be transferred at the end of June, would be paid by the end of July. 

“There was a request by the company to get an extension of the payment to which we agreed,” he said. The international investor is Blue Summit, a company registered in Singapore and Ben Holdings, which is registered in Sri Lanka. 



“Once all the money comes in, we expect about Rs. 11.5 billion to be available to pay depositors,” Siriwardena noted.

However, even with these payments, the embattled finance company would require another investor willing to funnel $ 100 million into turning around the company, Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said. “We are still looking for another investor. If we do not find them, then we may have to start liquidation proceedings,” he said.