Kathmandu, August 29
Nepal’s commercial banks have auto loans worth Rs 18.94 billion on their balance sheets, figures from the central bank show.
According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the during the 2015/16 fiscal year, the country’s commercial banks lent Rs 18.94 billion to car buyers across the country. The figure stood at Rs 14.34 billion during the same period the previous year.
Despite the Madhesh movement and the Indian blockade, the 40 per cent growth in bank loan is an encouraging sign says, Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association President Anjan Shrestha, ahead of Nepal’s premier auto show in Kathmandu.
Nepal continues to enjoy a remittance boom, which continues to fuel people’s demand for things such as cars and other commodities. Similarly, with limited areas to invest in, banks are brimming with liquidity. That the banks are ready to issue loans in three days, that too at competitive rates is tell-tale sign that financial institutions are competing to finance their costumers’s new cars.
“Although the country’s GDP growth hovers around 1 per cent, various businesses have witnessed a boom in profits, and they want to buy new cars,” says Rajansingh Bhandari, CEO Citizens Bank.
As this year’s NADA auto show, which begins tomorrow, dealers are preparing to target those costumers, and those who want to switch from motorbikes to cars, those participating in the exhibition say.
