Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Hire-purchase loans extended by banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to finance the purchase of motor vehicles increased by 7.1 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year.
In comparison, total credit expansion increased by only 3.6 percent during the review period.
According to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), total outstanding hire-purchase loans of BFIs rose to Rs 137.81 billion in mid-January, up from Rs 128.7 billion in mid-July.
During the six months, BFIs disbursed hire-purchase loans worth Rs 9.11 billion. Of this, Rs 6.79 billion was used to finance commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks, while Rs 2.32 billion was used to purchase private vehicles.
Twenty commercial banks alone have disbursed hire-purchase loans totaling Rs 122.7 billion.
Hire-purchase loans have repayment terms of up to seven years.
Global IME Bank has the largest hire-purchase loan portfolio, according to the central bank. The bank has disbursed Rs 15.72 billion in such loans. Nabil Bank follows with Rs 12.42 billion, Everest Bank with Rs 11.75 billion, Rastriya Banijya Bank with Rs 10.84 billion, Himalayan Bank with Rs 7.07 billion, and NMB Bank with Rs 6.73 billion.
Standard Chartered Bank has the lowest hire-purchase loan exposure at Rs 1.18 billion.
