NBL, Changunarayan collaborate to open bank accounts for girls

Kathmandu, Sept. 12

Nepal Bank Limited and Changunarayan Municipality of Bhaktapur district have entered an agreement to collaborate in various programmes and campaigns organised by the municipality.

Their collaboration will begin with the partnership in maintaining high-interest bank accounts for the girls of the municipality.

The municipality is launching a campaign ‘Daughters’ saving account, life-long protection’ under which the local body will deposit Rs. 4,000 to the account of every girl studying in a community school. The bank will open zero-balance account for the girl students, provide high interest rate and not levy any service charges in the banking services to the account holders.

Each bank account will also have deposit insurance of upto Rs. 300,000. The stakeholders have expected that the compaign will help in enhancing the access of girls to education, discourage the dropout and child marriage, and ensure economic and social protection.

The girls can withdraw the money only after completing Class 12.

The bank and the municipality have signed antoher Memorandum of Understanding for ‘Mayor Entrepreneurship Development Programme’ – a programme developed to provide financing for enterprise development and interest subsidy.

NBL will mobilise loans to the residents of the municipality who want to take up enterprise as per the Agriculture and Livestock Enterprise Promotion and Mayor Entrepreneurship Development Programme, according to the Unified Interest Subsidy Bylaws 2075 of the central bank.

This programme aims to promote enterprise development, utilise the skill and knowledge of returnee migrants, develop capacity in women, modernise the traditional skills of Dalit community and promote entrepreneurship and income generation activities in indigenous, marginalised communities as well as disabled and deprived people.

Chief Executive Officer of the bank Krishna Bahadur Adhikari and Municipality’s Mayor Som Prasad Mishra signed the MoUs.

NBL is the first bank in the country that has 189 branches, 125 ATMs and 29 extension counters.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 13 September 2020.