SATV 13 April, Kathmandu: Commercial banks of Nepal succeeded in increasing their net profits by 2.81 percent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, despite the banks being overloaded with liquidity amid the ongoing economic slowdown.
According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the commercial banks earned cumulative profits of Rs 43.49 billion between mid-July 2024 and mid-March 2025. In the same period of the last FY, they secured profits of Rs 42.30 billion.
Out of 20 commercial banks, 11 were successful in increasing their profits in the review period. Nine others including Prime Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Himalayan Bank, Siddhartha Bank, Machhapuchchhre Bank, Citizens Bank, Kumari Bank, NIC Asia Bank and Agriculture Development Bank witnessed decline in their profits. Agriculture Development Bank earned profits of Rs 738 million, the lowest of all.
Nabil Bank secured the largest profits of Rs 4.78 billion. Global IME Bank and Nepal Investment Mega Bank with profits of Rs 4.72 billion and Rs 4.08 billion stood second and third respectively, in terms of financial health.
Meanwhile, development banks earned total net profits of Rs 4.33 billion in the first eight months ending in mid-March. Garima Bikas Bank with a net profit of Rs 834.8 million, led the segment followed by Muktinath Bikas Bank, which posted Rs 787.8 million in net profit. Shine Resunga Development Bank stood next with earnings of Rs 564.8 million.
Out of the 17 ‘B’ class financial institutions, five witnessed losses. Narayani Development Bank, Saptakoshi Development Bank, Karnali Development Bank, Corporate Development Bank, and Excel Development Bank sustained net losses during the review period.
Although the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) were reportedly unable to issue adequate loans as they struggled to recover bad debts amid low demand for new loans, they posted a notable amount of profits during the review period. BFIs disbursed Rs 295.35 billion in loans to the private sector as of mid-March 2025—a 5.7 percent rise compared to mid-July 2024.
