11 banks lower interest rate

KATHMANDU: Eleven out of 20 commercial banks in the country have reduced interest rates on individual fixed deposits for the month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December) compared to the previous month.

Eight banks kept their interest rates unchanged, while one, Rastriya Banijya Bank Ltd, slightly raised its rate upwards.

Deposit interest rates have been falling continuously for the past few months as banks are not seeing credit demand grow despite a healthy growth in deposit collection.

Himalayan, Everest, Prabhu, Nepal, Siddhartha, Nepal SBI, Sanima, and Nepal Investment Mega Bank have kept their interest rates unchanged.

Rastriya Banijya Bank Ltd has increased its interest rate to 6% for Mangsir, up from 5.8% of the current month.

The average interest rate on individual fixed deposits for Mangsir has reached 5.97%, which is 0.217 percentage points lower than the previous month.

NIC Asia will offer the highest interest rate of 6.79% in Mangsir, followed by Nepal Investment Mega (6.5%), Himalayan (6.25%), Standard Chartered (6.25%), Sanima (6.15%) and Prabhu (6.1%). Everest, Machhapuchhre, Siddhartha, Rastriya Banijya and Nepal SBI are offering a 6% interest rate.

The interest rates of nine banks are below 6%. Laxmi Sunrise will offer the lowest interest rate of 5.5% in Mangsir.

Interest Rate of Banks for Mangsir