Rastriya Banijya Bank is nation's second largest bank in terms of paid up capital

State-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank has turned into the second largest commercial bank of the country in terms of paid up capital, after the government on January 27 approved its rights shares for the second time.
With a paid up capital of Rs 9 billion, it is the second largest bank. Agriculture Development Bank that has a paid up capital of Rs 9.47 billion is the largest bank.

Rastriya Banijya Bank issued 0.64 per cent rights shares for the second time last Sunday. Earlier the commercial bank had issued 11.22 per cent rights shares to increase its paid up capital.

The bank's core capital will also turn positive by the second quarter of the current fiscal year as the government has approved its proposal to convert special drawing rights (SDR) worth Rs 2.5 billion into domestic currency. The government will pay the World Bank.

Besides the government's fresh injection of Rs 4.32 billion earlier this year, the bank's profit has also helped it reduce its negative net worth.

The state-owned bank has bad financial health due to huge loan defaults.

The World Bank study in 2003 revealed that its net worth was negative by Rs 22.39 billion and non-performing loans was over 60 per cent.

The government had implemented the Financial Sector Reform Programme at Rastriya Banijya Bank with assistance from the World Bank that helped it hire a foreign management team.