Nepal Chamber of Commerce denounces hike in bank interest rates in loans; warns about growing inflation and diminishing capacity of domestic industries

Nepal Chamber of Commerce has issued a media statement to denounce the hike in bank interest rates in loans by the banks and financial institutions following the new monetary policy of the Nepal Rastra Bank.

Unlike the earlier provision of a maximum 1.5% premium in the base rate, the recent monetary policy has given banks free hand to add up to a 4% base rate premium for the industries the chamber denounces the most. The chamber claimed that the expensive loans will ultimately hit the consumers with a high inflation rate and will decrease the competitiveness of the domestic industries with an increase in production cost. Thus, the chamber has urged the concerned authorities to revise the fiscal policy to make it industry-friendly, as per the media statement.