Sustainable Development Goals 1: No poverty
About eight per cent of BOC total lending portfolio in the MSME sector is for women in business. Without discrimination, BOC Mithuru scheme is accessible to all tiers of business, from women led SM enterprises to micro financing schemes for self-employed home businesses.
BOC’s poverty alleviation platform presides on the basis of women empowerment as a definite road to reach sustainability with this goal. Mithuru, BOC’s MSME finance scheme has been growing from strength to strength, with numbers snowballing over the years to become one of the bank’s most successful SDGs.
Sustainable Development Goals 2: Zero hunger
Sustainable agriculture through institutional and home gardening has evolved into an attainable goal towards zero hunger in the Bank’s SDG landscape. The bank deploys its extensive branch network in a community service project to operate their "Shasreeka Gewaththa" home gardening program.
BOC’s heavy exposure to development lending in the agriculture sector reflects their prioritized commitment to long term sustainability in achieving zero hunger.
Sustainable Development Goals 3: Good Health and Well being
The bank’s pledge to uplift the health sector was amplified in the last few years. BOC’s response to the call of duty during Covid 19 pandemic and currency crisis was exemplary. Commitment to the sector chiefly comprised lending to healthcare, social and support services.
Escalating services during the Covid 19 pandemic, the bank serviced over 1000 customers in their homes through call centers operated with bank assistance. Similarly, state importers of essential pharmaceuticals were given priority credit in 2022 when the foreign currency liquidity crisis nearly crippled the economy and banking sector.
