Union Bank hosts Budget forum for SME Banking clients

Wednesday, 21 December 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Union Bank held a special Budget forum recently to educate its Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) clientele on the new developments and opportunities available for the SME sector with the proposed Budget proposals for 2017.

The event was well received by the clients of the bank representing SMEs in the Colombo region. The interactive sessions at this mini budget forum were conducted by Suresh Perera, Principal Tax and regulatory at KPMG and Shiran Fernando, Lead Economist and Senior Product Head at Frontier Research.

A detailed itemisation of the Budget proposals for 2017 was presented by Perera at the forum along with valuable guidelines on the proposed new taxes and highlights of new businesses opportunities that would emerge with the implementation of some of the proposals.

Fernando presented an analysis of the Budget proposals in relation to the economic development of the country, explaining the economic impacts of some of the key Budget proposals. A panel discussion was held at the culmination of the programme where the audience was encouraged to have their queries clarified by the learned panel that included the guest speakers Perera and Fernando along with Prasadhi Dandeniya, Manager – Finance at Union Bank.

The programme concluded with an evening of fellowship where the participants representing diverse industries within the region were able to interact and network with each other.

SME financing has been an integral component of Union Bank’s agenda through years. Today, as a fully-fledged commercial bank, Union Bank continues to support the SME sector with attractive financial facilities as well as specialised advisory services. Through its growing network of branches, the bank focuses on serving regional SMEs with customised services with a view to develop communities across Sri Lanka.