Dissemination Workshop of "Nepal Social Performance Country Report on Microfinance 2016" successfully held at Kathmandu on 28th December 2016
Centre for Microfinance [CMF], Nepal formally disseminated the Nepal Social Performance Country report 2016 on 28th December 2016 in a national workshop held in Kathmandu. Representatives from Nepal Rastra Bank, microfinance institutions, commercial banks, financial intermediary non-government organizations (FINGO), NGO/INGOs, cooperatives, associations and research organizations. The program was chaired by Dr. Harihar Acharya – CEO Centre for Microfinace Nepal. Mr. Upendra Kumar Paudel – Executive Director, Microfinance Promotion and Supervision Department, Nepal Rastra Bank and Mr. Ganesh Bahadur Thapa – chairperson of CMF, Nepal and Ex-Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank served as the chief guests.
The program was inaugurated jointly by the session chair person and distinguished guests by lighting traditional Nepali lamp. Following the welcome note by Mr. Ganesh Bahadur Thapa, the chief guest Mr. Paudel emphasized the importance of social performance management (SPM) and its place in monetary policy of Nepal Rastra Bank. He appreciated the concern of the stakeholders on SPM and assured that NRB would be happy to adopt the constructive recommendations coming out of the report and the workshop.
Mr Naresh Nepal – DCEO, CMF introduced the six dimensions of SPM and highlighted its evolution globally and in Nepal. Mr. Krishna Hari Baral, Senior Research Officer from CMF, Nepal then presented the aggregate status on SPM practices of 28 MFIs measured by 27 indicators. As per the report, the microfinance loans were mobilized in productive sector: agriculture (51%), SME (15%) and microenterprise (18%). The number of branches in the rural area (59%) is higher compared to the urban centers. Twenty-eight percent branches are concentrated in poor/excluded population areas. Empowerment of clients and employees through trainings and educational program is growing; and digital finance, green finance and insurance product are expected to grow in the near future.
The participants put forward several questions and provided their feedback expressing their concern on issues like over-indebtedness, interest spread of 7% set by NRB, recent provision of 2% direct lending by commercial banks and multiple burrowing. The queries and concerns of participants were answered and recorded as feedbacks.
Finally, Dr. Acharya concluded the program by emphasizing the need for developing a culture of research, database maintenance, documentation, sharing of innovations, capability enhancement, and human values in order to tackle the problems confronted by microfinance. Dr Acharya added that the suggestions provided by the participants would be taken positively while finalizing the report.