Citing security reasons amid threats and attacks by then Maoist rebels, a total of 241 branches of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), Agricultural Development Bank Ltd (ADBL) and Nepal Bank Ltd (NBL) were displaced or relocated from various places during the conflict that began in 1996.
These state-owned banks have reinstated around 105 branches so far.
According to Mukunda Aryal, deputy chief of the Public Relations Department of RBB, the bank has already reinstated 40 of its branches. He told Republica that the bank is planning to reinstate more branches in the days to come under its five-year corporate plan of opening 200 branches across the
country.
Likewise, ADBL has reinstated 40 of its 55 branches, which had been moved to the district headquarters during the conflict, according to the bank´s chief executive officer (CEO) Tej Bahadur Budhathoki.
“Reinstatement of the braches that were shut down during the conflict is under way. After assessing business feasibility, we will reinstate other branches by the fiscal year 2014/15,” ADBL CEO Budhathoki added.
The central regulatory bank has been urging the state owned banks to reopen their branches which closed down during the conflict. “A provision will be introduced to rehabilitate the branches of the banks by the end of this fiscal year which was closed during the conflict period,” the Monetary Policy 2014/15 states.
Nepal Bank Ltd (NBL), which had 86 of its branches shut down during the conflict, has already reinstated 25 branches so far. According to NBL, it has already reinstated two other branches, which are likely to come into operation by the end of next month.
Maheshwar Lal Shrestha, coordinator of NBL, said the bank is working to reinstate all the displaced branches.
While the government and NRB have been pressing these banks to reinstate their branches to increase the people´s access to the finance, state lenders have said that the reopening of the branches will help them regain their lost banking market.
However, with the proliferation of private commercial and development banks, finance companies, micro-credit development banks and cooperatives in most of the places, the reinstated branches will likely face tough competition.
RBB Bank CEO Krishna Prasad Sharma, however, told Republica they have received encouraging response from the locals where the branches have been reinstated. “In some places, locals are coming to our district headquarters to request us to reopen the branches,” he said.
“Of course there will be competition. Hence, the bank has come up with modern banking products. Despite penetration of private banks, people still want the state banks in their places as they can get loans on low interest rates. Apart from that, the presence of state-bank will help check monopoly and market manipulation,” CEO Sharma added.
ADBL CEO Budhathoki echoed Sharma. “We have reached even the remote places where banking presence is very low. There are demands from the locals for agro loans,” he added.
source: SAGAR GHIMIRE,republica,30 august 2014
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