December 2, 2018 | Investopaper
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of two day ” Second National microfinance Members Summit” on Saturday Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli urged the microfinance companies to not charge high rates to the poor, needy and underpriviledged persons so that the high financial burden is not added to them.
Though the interest rates of microfinance institutions in Nepal are cheaper compared to other countries, many are still charging high rates. This should not be the case especially if they are in the urban areas or inside Ring Road,” said Oli, stating that the 18 percent ceiling on the interest rates for loans of microfinance institutions was fixed by considering the high operating cost in rural areas.
Also speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Padma Aryal, said the microfinance institutions and their investment on poor people were instrumental in reducing poverty in the country.Similarly Deputy Governer Chintamani Shiwakoti of NRB stated that if different frauds such as the duplication in borrowing in microfinance companies is not checked then supervisory intervention will come into effect. Also, he said that NRB has been encouraging merger and acquisitions to reduce increasing rate of microfinance companies in Nepal.
The summit that will conclude on Sunday is bringing together over 700 participants from across the country, mainly to discuss about the overall situation of microfinance sector, achievements, prospect, problems and challenges faced by microfinance service providers and beneficiaries.
Shankar Man Shrestha from the Center for Self-help Development (CSD) said that the summit aimed to provide a forum not only for microfinance service providers or members of microfinance institutions, but also the beneficiaries to make their voices heard to the policymakers.Source: Republica
