Reopen of 3 state backed banks

Kathmandu October 7- Three large state-backed banks have reopened 127 out of the 284 branches that were closed during the 1996-2006 conflict in a bid to expand their services.Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) and Agricultural Development Bank Limited (ADBL) have got their branches up and running in many parts of the country. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had instructed them last year to reinstate their branches to boost financial access for the people.

According to the central bank, NBL has reopened 26 of the 120 branches closed during the conflict for security reasons. Likewise, RBB has reopened 47 branches out of 97, and ADBL has reopened 54 out of the 67 branches that were closed during the fighting. The central bank said that the reinstatement of public bank branches would help to expand access to finance.  

RBB CEO Krishna Sharma said that the country’s largest bank had planned to reopen all the closed branches by the end of the fiscal year and provide branchless banking in areas where this is not feasible.

NBL, which suffered the closure of the largest number of branches during the conflict period, is also reviving them.The oldest bank in the country, however, has been making slow progress, with 26 branches reinstated so far and another six on the way to being reopened. It does not plan to reopen all of them.

Among the three public banks, ADBL has moved the fastest to reopen its closed branches, and almost all of them have been restored.

Reinstatement of bank branches
Particulars                                                     NBL    RBB    ADBL    Total
Total closed branches                               120       97        67        284
Reinstated branches                                   26       47        54       127
In the process of reinstatement                  94       50        13       157
Source: Nepal Rastra Bank