KATHMANDU, March 13: Commercial banks have agreed not to hike the interest rate on their deposits from mid-March to mid-April.

A meeting of Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) held on Friday decided to give continuity to the existing interest rate which the banks have enforced since last month. With the decision, the banks’ interest rate on general deposit will be maintained at a maximum of 12.03 percent by mid-April.

Except for Standard Chartered Bank Nepal (SCBN), the rest of the 26 commercial banks have been offering an interest of 11.03 percent per annum on fixed deposits to individual depositors. The interest rate is 10.03 percent per annum for the institutional depositors. The SCBN has been providing interest of 9.5 percent per annum to fixed deposits of individuals while the interest on institutional deposit is 8.5 percent.  

The interest rate on remittance-based fixed deposits is 12.03 percent per year. Likewise, the interest rate on savings accounts has been fixed at five percent less than the interest rate of fixed deposits while the interest rate on call deposits is maintained at 3.015 percent per annum.

The stable interest rate of deposit is likely to keep the lending rate unchanged, which will largely benefit the borrowers. Last time, the banks raised the interest rate effective from mid-February.      

 
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