KATHMANDU, Feb 22: Cooperatives operators affiliated with the Nepal Federation of Savings and Credit Cooperatives Union (NEFSCUN) have staged a protest outside the Department of Co-operatives, demanding an increase in interest rate similar to banks and financial institutions. 

The protest was held to pressure the meeting of the Interest Rate Fixation Committee to increase the interest rates for the cooperatives, according to Senior Vice President Chandra Prasad Dhakal of the federation. He clarified that the federation has demanded that the interest rate be increased to facilitate liquidity as there has been an extreme lack of liquidity in the cooperatives recently. Dhakal also said that the unnatural increase in interest rates by commercial banks has affected the cooperatives. He said that the interest rates of the banks should be reduced or the cooperatives should be allowed to operate at their own discretion as in the past.

Furthermore, Dhakal said that the cooperatives are serving one million members by collecting savings from their members. He said that the demand of the federation should be addressed immediately as more than 80,000 people are being directly employed in the cooperative sector.

 
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