Kathmandu, September 22:

Nepal SBI Bank Ltd (NSBL), a joint venture of State Bank of India, opened its new branch at Teku, Kathmandu with an objective of providing the entire range of banking services, including retail finance to customers.

According to a press statement issued by the bank today, the total number of business

units in Nepal has reached to 16, including today’s Teku branch.

Indian ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee inaugurated the branch in the presence of a large gathering of local businesspersons, bank executives and other dignitaries. The branch, located in one of the prime commercial hubs of the capital, is geared to provide the whole range of banking services.

The bank, through its press statement has said that its total deposits and advances stand at Rs 11016.86 million and Rs 8245.71 million, respectively at the end of the financial year 2005-06.

All the branches of the bank are fully computerised and have recently been networked. In addition to its inherence strength of handling remittance to and from India, as SBI and its associate banks have more than 14,000 branches in India, the bank has number of other products to cater to the needs of retail and corporate customers.

Among others, the bank has a convenient loan scheme for small and medium enterprises, personal loan scheme called mortgage loan, housing loan and vehicle loan.

The bank has plans to link its ATMs with more than 5,000 ATMs of SBI for the convenience of Nepalis visiting India as well as Indian tourists, says the bank.