Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Commercial banks recorded moderate growth in assets, deposits, and lending in fiscal year 2024/25, according to the Annual Report of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).
Total assets and liabilities of commercial banks rose by 12% to Rs 8,095.38 billion in the current fiscal year, compared to 12.9% a year ago.
According to the report, total deposit mobilisation increased by 13.7% to Rs 6,531.87 billion at the end of 2024/25, i.e. mid-July. The growth was slightly higher than last year’s 13.3%.
Similarly, current and savings deposits rose sharply by 38.9% and 36.5%, respectively, while fixed deposits fell by 2%. In the previous year, current deposits had declined by 16%, whereas savings and fixed deposits had increased by 28.2% and 9.7%, respectively.
This is largely because people have chosen to park their money in savings and current accounts due to low fixed deposit yields. Deposit rates have dropped to around 5% in recent months compared to an average of 9-10% in the past years.
Credit and investment of commercial banks grew by 7.2% to reach Rs 6,295.65 billion in 2024/25, slightly lower than 7.7% in the previous fiscal year. The report shows that credit to the private sector increased by 8.6%, higher than last year’s 5.8%. The ratio of private-sector credit to GDP stood at 79.9% in mid-July.
Similarly, lending to priority sectors amounted to 33.26% of total loans, or Rs 1,601.87 billion. Of this, 13.6% went to agriculture and 19.6% to non-agricultural priority areas.
Investment in government securities increased by 1.5%, or Rs 15.58 billion, to Rs 1,031.18 billion in the review year. This growth is modest compared to the sharp rise of Rs 124.78 billion in the previous fiscal year.
Total liquid assets of commercial banks, including investments in government securities, stood at Rs 1,747.10 billion, equivalent to 26.71% of total deposits—slightly lower than the 27.4% recorded a year earlier. Within liquid assets, liquid funds increased by 28.4%.
