Central bank bans account maintenance charge

The central bank has asked the banks and financial institutions not to charge any fees from clients for operating accounts.
Similarly, they have to set up a separate 'Sick Industry Desk' — for the maintenance and monitoring of the sick industries — under their Loan Department, the central bank said today.
However, the central bank has allowed the banks and financial institutions to calculate the long term loan of five years or more in foreign currency that it had received as its core capital or local currency loan.
The banks and financial institutions were earlier asked to bring down credit-cum-core capital to deposit (CCD) ratio to 80 per cent to maintain liquidity. "However the foreign currency loans can be calculated as core capital now," according to the central bank," it added.
Almost all the commercial banks have already met the credit-cum-core capital to deposit (CCD) ratio of 80 per cent.Similarly, the licensed banks and financial institutions can take local currency (LCY) loans and grant from the foreign agency or its branch in Nepal with prior approval from the central bank. But the loan or grant should not increase the banks and financial institutions' liability, said the central bank that had earlier allowed them to take loan or grant in foreign currency only.
A finance company and its branches in 30 districts — that have no access to finance, according to the central bank — can do foreign currency (FCY) transaction — purchase foreign currency and sell it to the central bank or the commercial banks — after getting licence for the foreign currency transactions from the central bank, the new directives said, adding that a bank or financial institution can buy loan of the other institution at not less than the double of the total due loan and its interest in case the interbank loan, according to the amended directive.