The announcement comes in the wake of the government´s agriculture-focused policy and the central bank´s instruction to banks to raise their lending to agriculture. [break]
RBB had been focusing on small and medium-scale industry and there was no major lending to agriculture. "After conducting a feasibility study we will increase the investment in agriculture to 5 percent of our total lending portfolio," CEO of RBB Krishna Prasad Sharma said. He said RBB was already investing in agro-based industry and would increase such investment.
Total loan investment by the bank in the current fiscal year till December was Rs 56 billion and deposits during the same period reached Rs 75 billion.
The bank is identifying potential investment areas within agriculture. Sharma said the bank is working with farmer groups, lenders and financial intermediaries to increase the lending to agro-based industry. In this connection, RBB is also extending its branches to semi-urban and rural areas.
The bank has opened its 138th branch at Birautachowk, Pokhara. During the Maoist insurgency, RBB´s branch at Prithwichowk was displaced.
RBB had 214 branches and was forced to relocate 102 of them, mostly from rural areas. It has already reinstated 26 branches.
Related story
Portfolio Management
