Commercial Banks Publish Base Rate

The commercial banks have started publishing their base rates. As of January 22, four commercial banks had published their base rates. These banks namely, Bank of Kathmandu (BoK), Kist Bank, Grand Bank and Commerz and Trust Bank Nepal published their base rates on their websites. 

Among these banks, BoK, Kist, Grand and Commerz and Trust have a base rate of 8.29, 11.12, 10.49 and 10.14 per cent respectively. With the publication of their financial statements for the second quarter, commercial banks have begun revealing their base rates. Sudhir Khatri, Vice President of Nepal Bankers’ Association, said that all banks will be publishing their base rates before the publication of their quarterly financial statement.

Sunil Malla, Executive Vice President of Commerz and Trust Bank, said that operational cost will be added to the base rate while issuing credit. The Nepal Rastra Bank had directed the commercial banks to reveal their base rates around a month back.

According to Khatri, new banks’ average base rate hovers between 9.50 to 10 per cent while that of the old and joint venture banks is about 7.70 per cent.