A new International Finance Corporation (IFC) report reveals that Sri Lanka surpasses its regional counterparts in recruiting women at the entry level in the banking sector, with women comprising 46% of new recruits.
The report, supported by the Women in Work program—a partnership between IFC and the Australian government—also highlights Sri Lanka’s leadership in board-level gender diversity, with women holding 27% of board positions, compared to 20% in Nepal and 14% in Bangladesh.
The pioneering report, Women’s Advancement in Banking in Emerging South Asian Countries, aims to optimize opportunities that enable women to advance to senior roles in the banking industry across South Asia. This multi-country study, among the first of its kind in the region, focuses on private-sector commercial banks in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, where women constitute 30% of the banking workforce compared to the global average of 52%.