Banks find few earthquake survivors wanting loans to rebuild quake-hit houses

Kathmandu March 13- It has been two months since Agriculture Development Bank Limited (ADBL) asked its branches to provide loans to earthquake survivors to rebuild their houses, but not a single loan has been sanctioned. The bank says there has hardly been any demand for the loan. “I have instructed our branches in earthquake-affected areas to entertain the loan requests, but I have not got any information about such requests yet,” said ADBL CEO Lila Prakash Sitaula. “So far, just two individuals have inquired about the loan, that too at our headquarters. I asked them to talk to the branches concerned.”

According to a working procedure on the refinance facility introduced by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) in May 2015, banks and financial institutions (BFIs) will receive refinance from the central bank at zero percent interest while they have to extend the loans to the quake-hit at 2 percent rate to rebuild their houses. Only the owners of the houses that have been rendered uninhabitable can receive the loans. Home owners in the Kathmandu Valley are eligible to get a maximum of Rs2.5 million, while those from outside can get up to Rs1.5 million, according to the working procedure.