Nepal wants rural branches reinstated

Nepal wants the rural  branches of Rastriya Banijya Bank, Agricultural Development Bank and Nepal Bank Limited that were closed during 12-year Maoist conflict to be reinstated.

Nepal's Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun is leading discussions by a high-level committee on the possibility of reinstating the branches and even instructed the Nepal Rastra Bank help restoring formal banking services in rural areas.

“We´ve asked the central bank to submit a clear proposal to this connection in the next meeting of the committee,” a member of the committee said.

Likewise, the committee also instructed the NRB to hold talks with the Indian central bank over problems it was facing in promptly receiving the Indian currency. NRB has been facing problems in purchasing Indian currency from the Indian central bank.

“Though the central bank´s IC reserve is still sound, problems over getting the exchanges on time could impact currency supply in the market in the long run. Hence, the committee instructed the central bank to tackle the problem promptly,” said the source.

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