March 3: Umbrella organisations of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have expressed concerns towards public statements made by the debtors that they will not pay back the loans.

The BFIs have requested the government to check this troublesome trend on time.

Four umbrella organizations of BFIs issued a joint statement on Thursday and made such request to the government after attacks on bank employees and the formal declaration made by the defaulters that they will not pay back the loans.

Nepal Bankers Association, the umbrella organization of commercial banks, Development Bankers Association Nepal, the umbrella organization of development banks, Nepal Financial Institutions Association, the umbrella organization of finance companies, and Nepal Microfinance Bankers Association, the umbrella organization of microfinance companies, issued a joint statement and urged the government to control such chaotic activities.

The statement reads, “Recently, our attention has been drawn to the negative comments and agitation announced by some individuals against banks/financial and microfinance institutions and the threatening expressions and behavior to discourage bank employees. We are confident that the state's attention has gone towards controlling the incident in time.”

Banks and financial institutions have collected more than Rs 5400 billion deposits from over 483 million customers’ deposit accounts and have mobilized loans of more than Rs 4800 billion through more than 1.8 million borrowers.

This sector has created more than 530,00 direct jobs, paid more than Rs 34 billion in taxes to the state in the last fiscal year and have directly given more than Rs 10 billion to borrowers through interest rate discounts during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Similarly, in the remote areas of the country, microfinance institutions have provided services to more than 6 million depositors and more than 32 million borrowers, as well as created more than 23,000 direct jobs. Banks/financial and microfinance institutions are providing banking services subjected to the policies/instructions issued by the regulatory bodies and various laws and they are always aware of the rights and interests of their customers, added the statement.

They say that if there is any problem, it would be beneficial to discuss with the related organizations and proceed accordingly. Similarly, by making the banking sector stronger, the associations said they are expecting the support and cooperation of all stakeholders to help the economic development of the country.