Nepal Govt Reaches Five-Point Agreement with Microfinance Victims

The government has reached a five-point agreement with the Microfinance and Financial Exploitation Resistance Struggle Committee to address the problems faced by microfinance victims.

The agreement was reached after a meeting between the government’s negotiation team and the committee’s officials at the Ministry of Finance in Kathmandu on Friday.

Key Provisions of the Agreement

According to the agreement, a task force formed to address the problems of microfinance victims will submit a report with necessary action plans to the Ministry of Finance within 15 days.

The report will include recommendations for the implementation of a rehabilitation program for microfinance borrowers, a review of the existing system of blacklisting and auctioning of collateral, and possible alternatives.

The agreement also states that ‘D’ class microfinance institutions licensed by the Nepal Rastra Bank must fully implement the bank’s operational guidelines, and the bank will ensure effective monitoring of this.

In addition, the Ministry of Home Affairs will direct district administration offices to take action against microfinance institutions that engage in illegal activities such as extortion, harassment, and intimidation.

The final provision of the agreement states that the Microfinance and Financial Exploitation Resistance Struggle Committee will end all its protests and hunger strikes across the country from Friday.