KATHMANDU, April 21 -- The non-performing loans of commercial banks increased to 3.65 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, an increase of 0.63 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to the third quarterly financial reports recently published by 20 commercial banks, their average non-performing loans (NPLs) soared to 3.65 percent from 3.02 percent in the past one year. Based on the total lending of the commercial banks recorded by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the NPLs surged by Rs 34.90 billion to Rs 164.90 billion in the review period.

As of mid-January 2023, the figure was 2.63 percent, while it was only 1.16 percent as of mid-July 2022. Citing the low NPLs of the country's banks and financial inst...