Starter Kit. Idea 378 of 500. Cluster 18
A bank branch or credit union owned by Sri Lankans abroad that lends to the appendix
The mechanism, from the book
1.5 million people abroad who know how rich countries work, and who send home money and little else.
The first step
Gather 20 members of one Sri Lankan association abroad who would each deposit a fixed sum and lend it at a stated rate to businesses from this appendix, then ask a lawyer what structure their country allows for a small lending circle. Take the pledges and the legal answer to one business owner at home with a costed plan. Pledges plus a willing borrower is the proof.
- Who pays first
- A small business at home with a costed plan and no collateral, backed by people abroad who know the family and the place.
- What leaves today
- Savings held by Sri Lankans abroad earn little abroad while businesses at home cannot borrow; a lending circle moves that capital to where it builds something.
Ask first
- Department of the Registrar of Companies. Ask which structure a lending circle owned by members abroad could take here.
- Inland Revenue Department. Ask how interest earned by members living abroad is taxed here.
Check before you spend
That lending money or taking deposits may need a licence in both countries, which only a lawyer can confirm, before a single rupee moves.
Find out these three numbers
- How much will members pledge to deposit, in writing?
- What rate would a business here pay to borrow?
- What structure does the members' country allow for lending abroad?
A comparison from the book
The money that comes home. Chapter Eight
"Sri Lankans abroad send money to their families without a second thought."
Money already moves on family trust; a lender must earn that same trust with open reports.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.