February 28: Microfinance companies need to increase the interest rate on customers’ savings, as per the new provision fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The central bank recently amended the Unified Directives 2078 making it mandatory for microfinance companies to fix the minimum interest rate on savings at 50 percent of the maximum interest on loans.

The central bank introduced such measures after it was found that some microfinance companies which extended credit at an interest rate of 15 percent were giving just 2 percent interest on deposits to the customers.

According to the data published by the Nepal Rastra Bank,  the average interest on the savings of microfinance institutions was 6.45 per cent in the month of Asoj (mid-September to mid-October last year), while the lowest interest was given by Support, Mankamana, and Ganpati microfinance companies with a minimum of 2 per cent interest.

Nepal Rastra Bank said that although some of the 64 microfinance institutions in operation give 10 to 15 percent interest, most of them give interest in single digit. Lately, even commercial banks have been giving interest in double digits.

Prakashraj Sharma, president of the Nepal Microfinance Bankers Association, said that the interest rate of microfinance should be competitive according to the market. He shared that it is unethical to give 1 to 2 percent interest rate to customers in the current situation.

"The interest rate given by microfinance should be close to that of the commercial banks," Sharma said adding, "It is wrong to give a lower interest rate than the prevailing one in the market. He suggested that although the new system of the NRB has provision to increase the interest rate, to make it practical, the system of the base rate and spread rate should also be implemented in microfinance.”

According to Sharma, the central bank should implement the provision of base rate and spread rate like in commercial banks rather than setting a limit on the interest rate of microfinance.

"This will regulate the interest rate of microfinance companies."

Microfinance companies have been investing by taking wholesale loans from banks and financial institutions. Although these institutions cannot collect deposits from the general public, they collect deposits from customers in the name of mandatory savings and optional savings. Because there is a rule of mandatory savings to take loans, they are giving low-interest rates to the general people who have no other option than to deposit money in return of low interest. 

NRB has tightened microfinance for the first time after they started being criticized for exploiting the customers with high-interest rates.

According to NRB, as of mid-October last year, microfinance institutions collected more than Rs 164 billion in deposits.

Out of the deposit collection, Rs 38.9 billion is under mandatory savings, Rs 82.7 billion under optional savings, and Rs 25.7 billion under gradual savings. Similarly, they have collected Rs 2.17 billion under general public deposits and Rs 15.21 billion in other deposit category.

Nirdhan Uthan and Chimeki Laghubitta are allowed to collect deposits from the general public. Microfinance companies have 5.9 million members and disbursed loans to 3.3 million members.