April 21: Along with the profits of banks and financial institutions (BFIs), the risk factors have also increased. By the third quarter of the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23), bad loans of banks increased at an alarming rate along with the improvement in the profitability.

According to the unaudited financial statements published by the banks, 21 commercial banks earned a total net profit of Rs 48.70 billion till mid-March of the current year. This is 11.67 percent more compared to the same period of the previous year.

By mid-March of last fiscal year, the banks had earned a net profit of Rs 43.61 billion. In the review period, Nabil Bank made the highest profit of Rs 5.11 billion. Compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, Everest Bank has the highest profit growth rate of 62.63 percent. As of mid-March, the profit of seven banks has decreased compared to last year. The profit of Agriculture Development Bank decreased by 45.36 percent.

Compared to the first and second quarters of the current year, there has been an improvement in the profitability of banks in the third quarter. The average profit of banks reached 5.94 percent in the first quarter and 11.10 percent in the second quarter.

Former banker Analraj Bhattarai says that despite the improvement in the profitability of the banks with the expansion of their business, the increase in bad loans has increased the risk.

“Profits have increased due to business expansion of banks and increase in spread rate. However, the increase in bad loans shows that the financial sector is unstable and at risk.”

By mid-March of the current fiscal year, the average bad loan ratio of commercial banks has reached 3.03 percent. Last year, the bad loan ratio of banks was 1.10 percent which reached 1.83 percent in the first quarter of the current year and 2.35 percent in the second quarter.

Himalayan Bank's bad loan ratio reached 4.56 percent in March which was only 0.99 percent last year. Similarly, the bad loan ratio of Agriculture Development Bank stands at 4.35 percent and that of Nepal Bank is 4.16 percent.

The lowest bad loan ratio in March is 0.70 percent of Everest Bank. The bad loan ratio of NIC Asia, Standard Chartered and Nepal SBI Bank is less than 1 percent.

Due to the economic activities affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine tension, the interest recovery of banks is decreasing. Similarly, due to the non-payment of loans, debt recovery of BFIs has also been affected.

Nepal Rastra Bank has tightened the lending by issuing a tight monetary policy in the current year. Due to this, the interest rate of the bank has continuously increased and the common people have not been able to pay the principal and interest of the loans.