Nepal Bank to be handed over to shareholders by mid-January

ShareSansar, November 17:

Nepal Rastra Bank has stated that it will hand over the management of Nepal Bank Limited to the shareholders by mid-January (Poush end).

The central bank officials informed this following a program held to mark 77th anniversary of NBL in the capital yesterday.

The government currently holds 38.60 percent share in the oldest bank of the country and bank staff and ordinary as well as institutional investors hold the remaining 61.40 percent stake.

The first commercial bank of the country has a paid-up capital of Rs 3.97 arba.
Ever since NRB took over the management of Nepal Bank after it was declared technically insolvent in 2002, the central bank plans to handover the bank to its shareholders once the recapitalization plan is successfully executed.

NRB took over the management of the NBL after a study revealed it had a negative net worth of Rs 12.58 billion and non performing loans of 60 per cent.

After more than a decade of reforms, the bank is currently operating with negative net worth of just 4.22 billion and non-performing loans of 4.17 billion.

It has downsized the number of staff to 2,843 from 5,652. The bank has churned out profit for the past eight years.