SriLanka, Oct. 20 -- Sri Lanka's banks expanded lending to the overseas borrowers by more than half in the year to June, channelling over a third of their foreign currency loans offshore, even as signs of stress linked to the Middle East conflict began to surface in their loan books, as per the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) data.
Lending to overseas entities, which covers the loans booked through both banks' overseas branches and their domestic branches, grew 51.9 percent year-on-year (YoY) by end-June 2026, accelerating from 32.3 percent a year earlier. The stock of such loans stood at an estimated Rs.1.15 trillion or around US $ 3.4 billion, roughly double its level two years ago.
By end-June, 37.1 percent of the banks' outstanding f...