Royal Monetary Authority of *Bhutan Deputy Governor* MS.Yangchen Tshogyel. Picture by Sudath Nishantha

The Royal Monetary Authority of ‘Bhutan Deputy Governor MS.Yangchen Tshogyel, opined that it is the duty and responsibility of all stakeholders to improve the Sri Lankan agrarian economy and help farmers.

In an exclusive interview with the ‘Daily News Finance,’ she said that developing the local agriculture sector is the way forward for Sri Lanka.

The main objective of the Bhutan Deputy Governor and her team comprising of 20 top officials visit to Sri Lanka, was to attend a training program conducted by SANASA International on Innovative Rural Finance and Agriculture Insurance schemes, particularly those implemented through the SANASA system about innovative methodologies to improve the living standards of the rural community and their financial activities.

During their short stay in Sri Lanka, the team met key officials of several local institutions responsible for boosting the rural economy. They also met with the Governor and high officials of the regional development division of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

She said she was most impressed by the development impact made by SANASA and also privileged to witness it first hand when the delegation visited SANASA Societies in Nikaweratiya.

She said that they had visited several countries such as India, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, America, and some other European countries, to understand how each country had addressed the issues of their rural economy. She was impressed by the work SANASA had done under the guidance of visionary Leader Dr. Kiriwandeniya, to help the rural community to build their wealth.

The Deputy Governor further said that District Governors of Bhutan who accompanied her in the visit, are responsible for the economic development in each of their districts and they are critical stakeholders in the priority sector lending program, spearheaded by the Royal Monitory Authority, highlighting the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s).

Commenting on the local Insurance sector, the Deputy Governor said that the Sri Lankan Insurance sector should be strengthened in order to help the rural community, especially the farmer community, who frequently faced many obstacles due to bad weather patterns. She said she was very interested to study the weather-based Index Insurance SANASA has pioneered in Sri Lanka and also the value chain-based SME development program.

She was contended with the learning experience they received from SANASA and Sri Lanka and said that they were looking forward to initiate some of these ‘learnings’ back at home.