Margin loans of commercial banks surge 42.9% in seven months

KATHMANDU: Margin lending by commercial banks surged sharply in the first seven months of the current fiscal year.

According to data released by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), commercial banks disbursed a total of Rs 133.07 billion in margin-type loans between mid-July 2025 and mid-February 2026 of the fiscal year 2025/26. This marks a 42.9% increase compared to the same period last fiscal year, when such lending stood at Rs 93.12 billion.

Seventeen out of the 20 commercial banks expanded their margin lending portfolios during the review period, while two recorded declines.

Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd is the only commercial bank in the country that does not extend margin loans.

Margin loans refer to credit extended by banks and financial institutions against shares pledged as collateral by borrowers. Such loans have been increasing steadily since the central bank lifted the Rs 250 million margin lending ceiling for individual investors in October last year.

Data show 10 banks have extended more than Rs 6 billion each in share-backed loans.

Among individual banks, Nabil Bank leads with margin loans of Rs 17.50 billion, followed by Global IME Bank at Rs 13.39 billion and Kumari Bank at Rs 10.59 billion.

Some banks recorded particularly high growth rates. Agriculture Development Bank saw the steepest rise at over 286%, while Machhapuchchhre Bank and Laxmi Sunrise Bank also posted increases of 181.09% and 115.30%, respectively.

However, Nepal Bank and Citizens Bank International reported a decline of 10.27% and 3.95%, respectively, in their margin lending during the period.

Similarly, development banks disbursed margin loans worth Rs 19.89 billion in the first seven months. The amount is 11.18% higher than the total margin loans extended in the same period of the previous fiscal year, when development banks had extended Rs 17.89 billion in such loans. Meanwhile, margin lending by finance companies declined by 22.16%.