Banking deposit touches US$3.67 billion in Nepal

Cumulative deposits of the Nepali banking system has gone up to touch 257.34 billion Nepali rupees (3.67 billion US dollars) by the first quarter of the current Nepali fiscal year (July 16, 2005-July 15, 2006), central bank of Nepal said here Saturday.

"The deposit mobilization was recorded at a growth rate of 9 percent as compared to the same period of last year," the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said when releasing its latest report.

The cumulative deposit of commercial banks was recorded at 235. 61 billion Nepali rupees (3.36 billion US dollars) in the first quarter of last Nepali fiscal year, the NRB added.

Bankers attributed aggressive marketing such as announcement of promotional schemes with higher interest rate return to the rise in deposit mobilization, the report noted, adding, "Increased inflow of remittance also contributed in the growth."

Likewise, loans and advances of the commercial banks have gone up by 10 percent to touch 162.17 billion Nepali rupees (2.32 billion US dollars) during the same period of the current Nepali fiscal year, the report noted.

"It was recorded at 146.84 billion Nepali rupees (2.1 billion US dollars) in the same period of last year," the report added.

Source: Xinhua