Kathmandu, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, during discussions with the chief executive officers of banks and financial institutions, said that the indicators of the economy were positive even during the time of Corona Virus Covid-19 in Nepal. 

Governor Adhikari said that there was stability in exports and significant improvement in the current account deficit along with the management of imports. The governor claimed that the balance of payments was in surplus of Rs 282 billion and the foreign exchange reserves were above Rs 14 trillion, which could help in the expansion of economic activities.

A total of Rs 3,938 billion in deposits and Rs 3,255 billion in loans have been disbursed to Class A, B and C banks and financial institutions till September 7, Governor Adhikari said. He said that the recent resource mobilization ratio of 72 percent has provided adequate resources for investment and the capital adequacy ratio of the banking sector is 15 percent.

He said that the financial sector remained stable due to the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 1.8 percent, but it was the responsibility of the chief executives of banks and financial institutions to reflect the pressure on the financial sector due to the covid-19transition.

The governor urged the chief executive officers of banks and financial institutions to take advantage of the liquidity, which has been hovering around Rs two trillion for the past few months.

Emphasizing that banks and financial institutions have more liquidity and this should be taken as an indicator of ease rather than a problem, the Governor said that loans could be misused in the event of increased liquidity.

Stating that the banks and financial institutions have been reluctant to apply for refinancing, Governor Adhikari urged all concerned to be responsible for the policy provisions issued by the NRB.