A Quarter of All SL Bank Lending Is Now Vehicles or Gold — Bubble Risk?

CBSL's latest Financial Stability Review shows vehicle and gold-backed loans made up 24.9% of all bank and finance company credit by end-June 2026, up from 19.6% at end-2024. Motor vehicle lending alone jumped from 9.8% to 12.9% in that time, as leasing companies piled back in once imports reopened. CBSL itself flagged the risk: it already cut LTV limits twice (Nov 2025 and May 2026) because a drop in vehicle resale values or gold prices could hit lenders hard. One side says this is just normal catch-up growth after years of frozen imports — more leasing simply means more people finally able to buy. The other side says two volatile, hard-to-value assets now prop up a quarter of the credit system, and if secondhand prices soften even a little, leasing companies and buyers who are upside-down on their loans get squeezed at the same time. Have you noticed leasing companies getting looser with approvals or rates lately compared to a year ago? What LTV and interest rate did you actually get on your last lease? ලීසිං ගන්න කලින් දෙපාරක් හිතන්න — වෙළඳපොළ මිල බැස්සොත් ඔයාගේ වාහනේ වටිනාකමටත් වඩා ලෝන් ඉතුරු වෙයි.