Kathmandu, September 3
As many as 18 local units among the total of 753 still do not have a branch of any commercial bank in their jurisdiction, according to the central bank of Nepal.
The government had planned to establish at least one branch of a commercial bank in each local unit by the end of fiscal year 2017/18. However, by the end of the next fiscal year 2018/19, only 735 local units had access to the commercial banking service, the Nepal Rastra Bank informs.
The central bank claims difficult terrain resulted in the failure to extend the service to these 18 places.
Meanwhile, there are 171 banking institutions registered with the NRB including 28 commercial banks, 29 development banks, 23 finance companies, 90 microfinance institutions and one infrastructure development bank as of the end of the last fiscal year. They have total 8,686 branches across the country.
