Allow us to sell gold sans recommendation, Banks tell NRB

KATHMANDU : Nepal Bankers Association (NBA), the represenative body of banks in the country, has requested the government to allow banks sell gold without recommendation from different federations of gold, silver and diamond traders.



´We have sent a letter to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to allow banks sell gold without any recommendation as gold dealers are on strike and banks have the precious metal in stock,´ Rajan Singh Bhandari, president of NBA, told Republica on Friday. ´We ahve asked the central bank to allow banks sell gold without any recommendations till the situation gets normal.´

At present, banks can sell gold only as per the recommendations of two federations of gold, diamond and silver dealers.[break]



Meanwhile, Manik Ratna Shakya, president of Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers" Associations, has warned that the situation might turn worse if the government allows bank to sell gold without recommendations from the federations. ´It would be a blunder. The scarcity of gold will worsen further if such a decision is taken,´ he told Republica Friday evening.



Bullion traders across the country have closed their shops since Wednesday. The two federations have also stopped fixing price of the yellow metal and issuing recommendations to dealers to buy gold from banks.

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