The Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) has urged Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to relax restrictions on realty and home loans, loosen the cap on margin lending and allow banks to trade Indian currency in the free market as the central bank prepares to unveil the mid-term review of the monetary policy.

NBA president Ashok Rana told an interaction programme organised by the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal on Monday that these measures would resolve the problems that the domestic financial sector is currently grappling with. “These measures will help us to get some respite from the current situation,” said Rana.

Rana added that the NBA had also suggested to the central bank to relax the parameter of the credit to deposit (CD) ratio.

He added that the banking sector was going through turbulent times with depositors staying away from banks. The banking sector has recorded a growth of just Rs 3.78 million in the deposit base during the first six months of the current fiscal year.

Rana said that the current interest rate would be stable if the banking sector restricted the interest rates offered to institutional investors within the current rate. He ruled out a merger between Himalayan Bank and Nepal Investment Bank, stating that both banks would not advance under the prevailing

scenario. He admitted that the two had expressed interest in coming together. “Although NRB has started a dialogue with the banking fraternity about mergers and acquisitions, there are some issues that need to be addressed,” said Rana.

sourse: The Kathmandu Post(2011),"NRB urged to relax real estate loan restrictions", The Kathmandu Post:Money, 28 feb 2011,p.2