Finance Firms Now Park 85% of Their Loans in Vehicles and Gold — Too Risky?

The Central Bank's latest Financial Stability Review says vehicle and gold-backed loans made up 24.9% of all bank and finance company credit by mid-2026, up from 19.6% at the end of 2024. At finance companies specifically, that concentration is now 85.2% of their entire loan book, meaning almost everything they lend is secured against a car, van, bike, or gold jewellery. One side says this is just smart secured lending: vehicles and gold are tangible, easy to value, and easy to repossess, so defaults don't wipe out lenders the way unsecured credit would. The other side points to the risk the Central Bank itself flagged: gold prices fell about 18% this year, and a flood of imported vehicles plus a cooling market means resale values could drop too, leaving lenders holding collateral worth less than the loan. If both vehicle and gold prices fall together, a lot of finance companies could be exposed at once. Have you taken a vehicle lease recently, and did the lender seem to care about anything beyond the collateral value? ලීසිං එකක් ගත්තම, ණය දෙන සමාගමට තියෙන උනන්දුව වැහනේ හෝ රත්තරන් වගේ ගිනුම් වටිනාකම ගැන විතරද?