KATHMANDU: Nepal Rastra Bank has set an age bar for board of directors and chief executive officers of banks and financial institutions (BFIS).

Issuing a circular recently, NRB has barred BFIs from appointing or reappointing CEOs who are above 65 years of age. Similarly, NRB has also set an age limit of 70 years for board of directors at BFIs.

Likewise, it has also directed commercial banks to lower interest rate spread to below 4.4 per cent by mid-July next year as stated in Monetary Policy for fiscal 2019-20.

As per Monetary Policy, NRB has also directed commercial banks to issue debentures/corporate bonds amounting to 25 per cent of their paid-up capital by end of the fiscal.

NRB has also barred banks from charging more than two percentage points in premium on their base rate as interest rates on loans of up to Rs 1.5 million on agricultural, entrepreneurial and business promotion.