Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has extended the deadline for businesses and borrowers affected by floods in the Bhotekoshi and Budhi Gandaki rivers to pay loan principal and interest instalments until the end of Poush, around mid-January. The central bank introduced the provision on Tuesday through an amendment to its Unified Directives, 2082, and directed licensed Class A, B and C banks and financial institutions to apply the extension.
What the new provision covers
The measure gives eligible flood-affected borrowers additional time to meet scheduled loan payments. It covers both principal and interest instalments, rather than referring only to one part of a repayment obligation. The extended deadline is the end of Poush, which falls around mid-January.
NRB’s directive applies to licensed commercial banks, development banks and finance companies in Classes A, B and C. These institutions have been instructed to extend the repayment deadline in accordance with the amended Unified Directives. The directive therefore places implementation with the banks and financial institutions that hold the affected loans.
The relief is specifically linked to borrowers and businesses affected by floods in the Bhotekoshi and Budhi Gandaki rivers. The announcement does not describe a general extension for all borrowers or all flood-affected areas. Its stated coverage is tied to the two named rivers and to the categories of financial institutions identified by the central bank.
Implementation by banks and financial institutions
By amending the Unified Directives, NRB has set out the repayment deadline that covered institutions are to follow. Banks and financial institutions have been directed to extend the relevant instalment dates until the end of Poush. Borrowers affected by the floods will therefore deal with their lending institutions under the central bank’s instruction.
The provision concerns the timing of principal and interest payments. NRB’s announcement, as described, does not state that the loans themselves have been cancelled or that principal or interest has been waived. Instead, the central measure is an extension of the deadline for the specified instalments.
The change also identifies the regulatory framework under which the extension has been made: the Unified Directives, 2082. The amendment gives licensed Class A, B and C institutions a common instruction to extend repayment deadlines for the borrowers covered by the measure, with the end of Poush serving as the new time limit.
Scope of the extension
The deadline change is limited to businesses and borrowers affected by flooding in the Bhotekoshi and Budhi Gandaki rivers. It covers principal and interest instalments due from those borrowers and requires the relevant banks and financial institutions to provide the extension. No additional repayment period beyond the end of Poush is specified in the announcement.
For affected borrowers, the decision provides more time before the covered instalments fall due. For lenders, it sets out the central bank’s direction on how those repayment deadlines should be handled. The extension took effect through NRB’s Tuesday amendment to the Unified Directives, 2082, and runs until mid-January, at the end of Poush.
