KATHMANDU, DEC 09-2011
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has agreed to allow banks with money stuck at beleaguered Nepal Share Markets and Finance Limited (NSMFL) to buy good loans from it. According to a senior NRB official, the central bank will issue a directive soon to give a formal go-ahead to the banks that have Rs 680 million invested in NSMFL in the form of inter-bank lending.
Once the central bank’s directive is issued, the commercial banks will be allowed to buy loans that are worth double the amount of the inter-bank credit they have given to NSMFL. Bankers had asked NRB to intervene after NSMFL defaulted on interest payments on the loans they had provided under inter-bank lending.
The Nepal Bankers Association (NBA) had sent a letter to NRB on behalf of the seven commercial banks seeking its support to collect interest which had remained unpaid since June after its former chairman Yogendra Prasad Shrestha fled embezzling billions of rupees. The letter asked NRB to treat inter-bank lending like regular individual deposits and give them the authority to purchase loans of NSMFL against the amount lent as inter-bank lending.
This decision will provide respite to the commercial banks which were worried after the Due Diligence Audit (DDA) report of NSMFL revealed that, out of the total lending, about 45 percent or Rs 2 billion, was of a non-performing nature including fake loans issued by Shrestha.
“This decision is a win-win situation for all the parties—commercial banks, NRB and NSMFL,” said a banker who had extended millions in loans to NSMFL in the form of inter-bank lending.
“Since we are buying loans worth double our lending, NSMFL will get liquidity of about Rs 680 million which it can use to repay its depositors.”
Apart from the inter-bank loans, the finance company has an additional liability of Rs 2.18 billion in the form of deposits placed by individuals and institutions. Although some of the bankers have termed the situation “not perfectly ideal” with the commercial banks having excess liquidity and insufficient avenues to lend, purchasing loans from NSMFL can be a blessing in disguise.
“Once the central bank issues the directive, the commercial banks will start appraising the different loans from NSMFL’s portfolio,” said another banker involved in inter-bank lending. “In doing so, we will make site visits to the projects, talk to the borrowers, analyse their cash-flow statement, look at the repayment history and make our decisions.”
The meeting, however, did not decide the distribution of loans among the banks as all of them have agreed to do it on mutual understanding.
Source: Kantipur
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has agreed to allow banks with money stuck at beleaguered Nepal Share Markets and Finance Limited (NSMFL) to buy good loans from it. According to a senior NRB official, the central bank will issue a directive soon to give a formal go-ahead to the banks that have Rs 680 million invested in NSMFL in the form of inter-bank lending.
Once the central bank’s directive is issued, the commercial banks will be allowed to buy loans that are worth double the amount of the inter-bank credit they have given to NSMFL. Bankers had asked NRB to intervene after NSMFL defaulted on interest payments on the loans they had provided under inter-bank lending.
The Nepal Bankers Association (NBA) had sent a letter to NRB on behalf of the seven commercial banks seeking its support to collect interest which had remained unpaid since June after its former chairman Yogendra Prasad Shrestha fled embezzling billions of rupees. The letter asked NRB to treat inter-bank lending like regular individual deposits and give them the authority to purchase loans of NSMFL against the amount lent as inter-bank lending.
This decision will provide respite to the commercial banks which were worried after the Due Diligence Audit (DDA) report of NSMFL revealed that, out of the total lending, about 45 percent or Rs 2 billion, was of a non-performing nature including fake loans issued by Shrestha.
“This decision is a win-win situation for all the parties—commercial banks, NRB and NSMFL,” said a banker who had extended millions in loans to NSMFL in the form of inter-bank lending.
“Since we are buying loans worth double our lending, NSMFL will get liquidity of about Rs 680 million which it can use to repay its depositors.”
Apart from the inter-bank loans, the finance company has an additional liability of Rs 2.18 billion in the form of deposits placed by individuals and institutions. Although some of the bankers have termed the situation “not perfectly ideal” with the commercial banks having excess liquidity and insufficient avenues to lend, purchasing loans from NSMFL can be a blessing in disguise.
“Once the central bank issues the directive, the commercial banks will start appraising the different loans from NSMFL’s portfolio,” said another banker involved in inter-bank lending. “In doing so, we will make site visits to the projects, talk to the borrowers, analyse their cash-flow statement, look at the repayment history and make our decisions.”
The meeting, however, did not decide the distribution of loans among the banks as all of them have agreed to do it on mutual understanding.
Source: Kantipur
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