ATMs and refugee/IDP camps are not usually two things I think about in the same context. Apparently, I should have been thinking more creatively. According to this article in India’s The Hindu (read down to the second half of the article), the Government of Sri Lanka has had to open bank branches and even ATMs for IDPs in the country’s northern region. In the wake of the end of hostilities, and despite the refugees’ increasingly tenuous humanitarian situation, there has been demand for banking services – from people who had literally been carrying their savings in their clothes and suitcases as they fled fighting between the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka. According to The Hindu, in the first few days of the temporary bank branches’ opening, on average 5 million rupees (about $43,500) was deposited each day, with 12 million rupees (about $104,400) deposited on the first day alone. One individual deposited 3.4 million rupees (nearly $30,000). The demand for ATM services has been such that the temporary branches are already issuing ATM cards, and Internet-based money transfer services are being offered as well.
I find this interesting for a number of reasons. One, that these Tamil civilians have such a degree of trust in the Government of Sri Lanka that they would entrust their life savings to these banks evinces a certain degree of trust in the government generally. Against the horrific experiences that everyone in Sri Lanka has undergone over the past two and a half decades of conflict, this is a positive development. Regardless of where an individual’s sympathies were placed (with the LTTE or the government), those who have made the deposits have made it clear that they are looking into the future from a very practical standpoint. Two, the years of conflict have not been ones of great strides in development for the country. While Sri Lanka was once lauded as a model state, emulated by such success stories as Singapore, the decades of civil war sucked political energy, state and private resources, and social momentum into the vacuum of strife. Small advances like these – where Tamil civilians demonstrate trust in the government’s ability to provide infrastructure and sustain institutions – will be incredibly important as the country moves forward in the reconciliation and reconstruction process. Three, quite simply put, trust in banking institutions is essential for long-term economic growth. These civilians are moving in that direction in a very tangible way.
So I’m curious… does anyone know of other instances/countries in which this has happened? Given the current situation in Sri Lanka, how do you think this affects the country’s prospects for long-term stability and growth?
Published Date: June 04, 2009