A comparative financial review of Lumbini Bank has reported a substantial improvement in the last one year, stated a press release issued by the bank today. The release has attributed the improvement mostly to the revamping of its human resource policy by the bank's new management. The bank has reported a decline in Non Performing Assets (NPA) by more than half of last year at 21 percent. The release says that the bank's performing loans have increased by 80.64 percent while concentration risk has also been reduced. Similarly the bank's earnings from interest have gone up by 49 percent while other income has multiplied by a whopping 478 percent, the release states.

The Agricultural Development Bank, Dhangadi district office Thursday announced that it had invested Rs. 93 million under its alternative energy programme in nine districts of Seti and Mahakali zones so far since the beginning of the programme. The office supported the establishment of bio-gas plant in fiscal year 2048/49 BS, solar energy program in 2056/57 BS, rural electrification in 2054/55 BS, community land irrigation in the financial year 2050/51 BS, and underground water irrigation in the fiscal year 2048/49 BS. In the current fiscal year 2062/63 BS, about 3,600 households benefited from the bio-gas plants constructed with the loans offered by the bank and the financial grants from the government. Likewise, 628 households benefited from the solar energy progarmme.

A three member team headed by Bashu Dev Ram Joshi, former chairman of Rastriya Banijya Bank, took charge of the management of Nepal Bangladesh (NB) Bank from Friday. The team that was selected for the management contract through bidding process is allowed to run the commercial bank for the next eight months, said an official at the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). After panicked depositors rushed to withdraw deposits from the commercial bank, the NRB took over its management since last November, deputing a three-member committee to run it. The official said that the new management would get around Rs

The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to extend its control of Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) for two more years. A high-ranking NRB official told the Post that as per the decision, the entire management of the NBL will be in the hands of the central bank till March 2009. As per the approval of the government, NRB had taken over the NBL on March 2002 for a restructuring program to protect it from possible financial meltdown, when its total non-performing assets was hovering at around 60 percent and net loss stood at over Rs 3 billion. The NRB on July 2002 handed over the management of NBL to the ICC bank Management.

Talk about setting high targets and having the will to achieve it. This finance company claims to have both. Having achieved the highest amount of paid up capital of Rs 320 million amongst non-banking financial institutions, Ace Finance Company Ltd is now eyeing a bigger role for itself in the financial sector of Nepal. It has applied to the Nepal Rastra Bank for an upgradation into the ‘Class B’ financial institution or that of a development bank. Disclosing this at a press conference, Siddhant R Pandey, managing director and chief executive officer said this was the first time in the history of the banking sector in Nepal that a financial institution was seeking to be upgraded into a development bank.

If you are planning to purchase shares with loans from financial institutions during the initial public offering, simply give up the idea. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has recently directed financial institutions not to extend loans for the purpose of purchasing shares during the first phase of initial public offering (IPO). However, the central bank has stated that institutions could be allowed to give loans after a week of the offering, if the shares are not fully subscribed until then. They are required to keep at least 50 percent margin in their lending. The financial institutions were providing loans up to 95 percent of the shares face value during the IPO, with a margin of only five percent.

The central bank has informed that inflation rate has increased by a staggering 7.6 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year. Earlier, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had revised inflation rate for the current fiscal year and projected it at 6.6 percent from an earlier projection of 6 percent citing price increase in major food items and petroleum products. Speaking at a programme 'Mid-term Review of Monetary Policy 2006/07' in Kathmandu on Wednesday, Executive Director of the central bank Ram Prasad Adhikari informed that economic growth would slow down this year and projected the revised growth at 3.8 percent from the previous projection of five percent.

Nepal is hosting a world summit on Microfinance on February 14-16 as the country continues its long battle to expand and consolidate the service delivery institutions. The main output of the summit will be the joint declaration and an action plan for building a strong and inclusive microfinance sector.