Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has shortlisted six firms to conduct a loan quality assessment of 10 major commercial banks.  

Following its second call for proposals, NRB selected Deloitte Partners (Sri Lanka), Howladar Yunus & Co. (Bangladesh), KPMG Assurance and Consulting Services LLP (India), and MSKA & Associates (India).  

The remaining two selections are joint ventures. One is led by Subedi & Associates (Nepal), partnering with Mehra Goel & Co. (India) and JKSS & Associates (India). Another is a collaboration between SR Batliboi & Associates LLP (India) and B.K. Agrawal & Co. (Nepal), led by the former.

NRB's Assets and Service Management Department (ASMD) will soon invite the shortlisted firms to submit their Request for Proposal (RFP).  

In the previous selection round last year, the central bank had shortlisted Deloitte Financial Advisory BV (Netherlands), KPMG Assurance and Consulting Services (India), KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co. (Pakistan), a joint venture of PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd (PwC) and CSC & Co., and another joint venture of SR Batliboi & Associates and B.K. Agrawal & Co.  

However, only KPMG Assurance & Consulting Services submitted a financial proposal . The selection process was scrapped as its bid exceeded the estimated budget, leading to a fresh call for proposals.  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has mandated the audit as part of conditions for an Extended Credit Facility (ECF), suspecting loan evergreening practices in major banks.  

As per the agreement with the IMF, the audit was scheduled to begin by April 2024 and be completed by December the same year, with an improvement action plan set to start from February 2025.  

However, delays in finalizing an auditor have stalled the process.