Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman opened a branch of the State Bank of India in Trincomalee on Thursday (2) during her official visit to Sri Lanka. 

Senthil Thondaman, Governor of Eastern Province, Shri Gopal Baglay, India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, and Chairman of the State Bank of India, Shri Dinesh Khara were also present at the inauguration.

Sitharaman highlighted that SBI, with its 159 years of significant presence, is the oldest bank in Sri Lanka and continues to grow its business at home and abroad. 

The Indian Finance Ministry posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that during the Sri Lankan economic crisis, SBI's presence in Sri Lanka paved the way for a smooth extension of a line of credit worth $1 billion by the Government of India to Sri Lanka.

SBI Sri Lanka continues to play vital role by supporting corporates in international trade, it added.

SBI in Sri Lanka continues to scale up remittances through a robust Digital Platform via SBI Sri Lanka YONO app and online banking, in addition to the in-branch operations, it further said.

After the inauguration, Minister Sitharaman interacted with the new branch officials and distributed passbooks to new customers, while also adding comments on the visitor’s book in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.