The integrity of financial institutions is critically important for the economic stability of any country. In Nepal, where commercial banks play a critical role in the nation's financial infrastructure, the importance of ensuring adherence to good governance practices cannot be underestimated. Recent findings from the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) in its 'Bank Supervision Report 2022/23' have raised significant concerns about the operational and systemic integrity of these institutions.

KATHMANDU, April 16: Commercial banks of Nepal have been found not following the good governance practices in their day-to-day operation, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). This has created serious risks in the long-term financial health of the intermediaries.

KATHMANDU, April 12: Most of the commercial banks have reduced the deposit interest rates for the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) as well. According to the new interest rate table published by the banks on Friday, the maximum average interest rate for personal term has decreased by 0.19 percentage points compared to Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April).

KATHMANDU, April 11: The net profits of commercial banks declined 13.37 percent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, thanks to the economic slowdown and an increase in the bad debts of the banks.

KATHMANDU, March 24: Majority of commercial banks have lowered their base interest rates on loans to single digit after they were overwhelmed with excess loanable funds.

KATHMANDU, March 24: The downward trend in loan interest rates has commenced as banks gradually adjust their rates in response to continuous decreases in deposit interest rates over recent months.

KATHMANDU, March 13: Most of the commercial banks have reduced the deposit interest rate for the month of Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April). The latest interest rate table released by these banks indicates a decline in the average interest rate for personal term deposits by 0.51 percentage points in Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April) compared to Falgun (mid-February to mid-March).

KATHMANDU, Feb 12: Commercial banks continue their trend of lowering interest rates, driven by a surge in liquidity over recent months.

KATHMANDU, Jan 28: The country's sluggish economy has affected the banks’ balance sheets. Due to the problems seen in the economy, industries and businesses have been affected, and industrialists and businessmen have not been able to pay the interest on their loans on time.

KATHMANDU, Jan 15: Commercial banks of Nepal earned profits of Rs 28.36 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year.

KATHMANDU, Dec 30: Commercial banks have earned Rs 64.76 billion interest in four months of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-November).

KATHMANDU, Dec 30: Commercial banks have earned Rs 64.76 billion interest in four months of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-November).

KATHMANDU, Dec 16: Commercial banks have announced revised interest rates on deposits for the month of Paush (mid-December to mid-January), in response to the reduced policy rate and bank rate by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

KATHMANDU, Dec 16:  Commercial banks have announced new interest rates for the month of Paush (mid-December to mid-January).

KATHMANDU, Dec 12: A number of commercial banks have started lowering their interest rates on deposits after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) turned lenient in its policy rate and bank rate through the first quarterly review of the monetary policy.

KATHMANDU, Nov 17: A number of commercial banks and development banks have reduced the interest rates on their deposit collection effective from Friday.

KATHMANDU, Nov 6: Bad debts of Nepal’s commercial banks surged more than double in the first three months of the current fiscal year, thanks to the non-recovery of the issued loans caused by ongoing economic slowdown.

KATHMANDU, Nov 4: The profits of Nepal’s commercial banks declined 18.60 percent in the first three months of the current fiscal year, thanks to the fall in demand for loans due to the ongoing economic slowdown.

KATHMANDU, Oct 18: Nepal’s commercial banks earned net profits of Rs 16.64 billion in the first two months of the current fiscal year.

KATHMANDU, Sept 18: Effective today, seven commercial banks have opted to decrease their deposit interest rates, while eight others have chosen to raise them. Four banks, however, have maintained their existing interest rates.

KATHMANDU, Aug 17: In a significant departure from the recently abolished cartelization of interest rates by the Nepal Bankers' Association during the month of Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), commercial banks have now embraced individualized interest rate structures for the upcoming Bhadra month (mid-August to mid-September).

KATHMANDU, Aug 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against three commercial banks. The officials of NRB have stated that the commercial banks that violated the regulatory system in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year 2022/23 have been punished.

KATHMANDU, July 23: According to the monetary policy unveiled on Sunday, banks provided the highest amount of loans to the agricultural sector in the last fiscal year 2022/23.

KATHMANDU, July 20: Nepal’s commercial banks earned hefty profits of over Rs 67.23 billion in the first 11 months of the last fiscal year despite a slump in the country’s economic activities.

KATHMANDU, July 14: Commercial banks will be setting the interest rate of deposits on their own as the Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) on Thursday decided not to intervene in the autonomy of the banks to make their own decision on the interest rates.

KATHMANDU, May 7: Although commercial banks of Nepal have started offering easy loans to their clients due to sufficient amounts of loanable funds, they are unable to raise the demand for loans from the borrowers.

KATHMANDU, April 25: The bad debts of Nepal’s commercial banks have increased by a notable ratio in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

Commercial banks of Nepal on Thursday decided to reduce their premium interest rates on loans by one percentage point effective from March 15. The decision was made by the Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA), who opted to lower the premium rate to a maximum of 5% from the current 6%.

KATHMANDU, March 10: Nepali commercial banks will be reducing their premium interest rate on loans by one percent with effect from March 15.

KATHMANDU, March 5: Amid ongoing slump in the economic activities of the country, non-performing loans (NPL) of the commercial banks of Nepal have been reportedly doubled as of mid-January compared to the figure in the same period of last year.

KATHMANDU, Feb 9: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has slapped a cash penalty against four commercial banks for breaching the laws related to money laundering.

KATHMANDU, Jan 12: Commercial banks of Nepal are likely to reduce the existing interest rates on deposits from Sunday, the beginning of the new Nepali month, after the banks were replenished with surplus liquidity.

KATHMANDU, Jan 10: After the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) took a 'pressure policy' for the commercial banks to merge, the latter have gone/are going into mergers. Global IME Bank and Bank of Kathmandu merged and integrated business started from Sunday.

KATHMANDU, Dec 13: Commercial banks of Nepal are considering reviewing the existing interest rates on deposits from Friday, the beginning of the new Nepali month, after the banks have been cushioned with an improved liquidity.

KATHMANDU, Dec 12: The cases of suspicious transactions in commercial banks are on the rise despite growing concerns of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to tighten the money laundering measures.

KATHMANDU, Nov 30: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against a number of commercial banks found involved in misconduct in their daily operations.

KATHMANDU, March 14: Commercial banks have collected deposits worth Rs 14 billion in the past three weeks while they provided loans worth Rs 10 billion during the same period.

KATHMANDU, Nov 14: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks to accept lands in rural areas as collateral for loans.

KATHMANDU, Sept 22: It has been revealed that commercial banks have collected Rs 26 billion in deposits in the last one week at a time when the financial institutions are expected to face a liquidity crunch.

KATHMANDU, August 20: The profits earned by the 27 commercial banks in the last fiscal year soared by 19.31 percent, backed by the flexible monetary policy and the banks’ earnings from the transaction of shares amid the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

KATHMANDU, July 20: Amid the existing threat of the coronavirus, Nepal’s commercial banks increased their businesses by 28.07 percent last fiscal year through issuing additional loans of Rs 815.44 billion to their customers during mid-July 2020 and mid-July 2021.

KATHMANDU, Oct 20: All commercial banks in the country have decided to close their branches for five days during the Dashain vacation, the Nepal Bankers Association (NBA) said on Tuesday.

KATHMANDU, March 25: The commercial banks have committed to provide smooth banking services to customers while fully implementing the week-long lockdown announced by the government.

KATHMANDU, March 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has allowed commercial banks to accept gold as interest-earning deposit which is expected to inject more cash into the market as well as help the banks to maintain their obligation for liquid assets.

KATHMANDU, Dec 15: A rising trend in non-performing loans (NPLs) of commercial banks point to some emerging vulnerabilities in the banking sector, concludes a recent report of the World Bank.

KATHMANDU, Dec 4: A number of commercial banks have been issuing debentures to meet mandatory requirements forwarded by the regulator even though many of them are receiving poor response from investors.

KATHMANDU, Nov 29: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has instructed commercial banks to disburse interest-subsidized loans to at least 500 borrowers by mid-July 2020.

KATHMANDU, Nov 24: The interest rate of bank loans is less likely to fall in the second quarter of the current Fiscal Year 2019/20. Rather, some of the commercial banks may raise their lending rates.

KATHMANDU, Sept 17: A recent World Bank report recommended that the government further consolidate the banking sector and lower the number of commercial banks in the country to less than 15.

KATHMANDU, Sept 15: A recent report of the World Bank has recommended the government to further consolidate the banking sector to enable it to finance large-scale infrastructure projects in Nepal.