Biratnagar, March 15:

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to sell its entire shares in Purbanchal Grameen Bikash Bank (PGBB) to a private company within this week.

NRB has 34.95 per cent shares in PGBB. A private company will be entering PGBB for the first time.

The shares of NRB will be sold to Hari Prasad Agarwal of HP Agarwal Group and Company for Rs 25 million, executive director at NRB, Shyam Dev Yogi said.

However, the PGBB staffers had protested NRB’s decision to sell its share in PGBB to a private company. The employees supported the decision only after bank management agreed to safeguard their jobs.

PGBB had earned profit of Rs 270,000 in the fiscal year 2005-06. NRB is selling its shares in PGBB to a private company due to provisions in NRB Act 2057 and Act regarding banks and financial institutions 2063, which prohibits NRB from keeping shares in any financial institutions, PGBB clarified.

The NRB has started selling all the shares it has in different financial institutions. NRB has already sold its 10 per cent share in Mid Regional Grameen Bikash Bank to Nirdhan Utthan Bank. Likewise, NRB has also decided to sell its shares in Insurance Corporation.

NRB had made investment of 66.75 per cent in the first phase of establishment of PGBB in 1993. There is 25 per cent share of Nepal Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Investment Bank, Nabil Bank and Standard Chartered Bank collectively in PGBB while 31.5 per cent share in PGBB belongs to general public. Similarly, the Nepal government has 8.25 per cent of shares in PGBB.

The executive director at PGBB, Yogi added that there are altogether 58,000 customers at four regional and 37 branch offices of the bank.