Alliance Finance Company PLC plans to raise up to Rs. 1 billion through what would be the first Orange Bond listed in Sri Lanka — a debt instrument whose proceeds are tied to measurable outcomes for women.
The company’s board resolved on 27 October to issue up to 10 million listed, rated, unsecured, redeemable bonds at a par value of Rs. 100 each, with a three-year tenor. Capital is to be repaid as a single bullet payment at maturity. Pricing has not been announced.
Proceeds are earmarked for eligible social project categories — MSME value chain financing, MSME climate financing and microfinance — with what the company described to the Colombo Stock Exchange as “ring-fenced targets directed towards women-led enterprises and female beneficiaries,” EconomyNext reported from the regulatory filing.
The issue is not yet cleared. The company said it remains subject to approvals from the rating agency, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Colombo Stock Exchange.
Why the company says it is doing this
Managing Director Romani de Silva, speaking on a panel at the Orange Economy Summit 2026 in Colombo, said women account for roughly 35% of Alliance Finance’s lending portfolio — a level he said the company was not happy with. “Our intention is to get it to 50% as soon as possible. Hence the interest in issuing an Orange Bond,” he told the summit.
De Silva said the lender draws about 82% of its funding from the Western Province, the country’s wealthiest, while disbursing about 72% to marginalised provinces. The North and East account for 14% of its portfolio.
He said overseas funding had unlocked European Commission money under the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus, covering hedging and currency-risk costs and cutting lending rates by 200 to 300 basis points.
Founded in 1956, the company issued Sri Lanka’s first social bond about a year ago. Orange Bonds, de Silva said, are stronger at defining measurable gender-equality outcomes under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5.
Not reported
Neither filing gives the coupon, the expected yield or an issue date, and neither says how the “ring-fenced” targets would be verified or who would audit them.
