Kathmandu, February 17
As many as eight 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 first half of the current fiscal year 2019/20, only 745 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. Two units in Bagmati and Sudurpaschim each and one unit of Province 1, Province 2, Gandaki and Karnali each do not bank. All local units in Province 5 have such a facility.
Meanwhile, there are 9,394 branches of various banks and financial institutions operating in the country, according to the central bank.
