Jajarkot, July 12

Manohar Bikram Shah of Matela in Bheri Municipality, Jajarkot, reached the Khalanga-based Nepal Bank Limited branch office to withdraw money today, only to return empty-handed after he was told that the bank had run out of cash.

Shah, who works as programme coordinator for Coordination for Development, an NGO, hadn’t received his salary since March. “I was planning to clear my children’s school fees and settle my debts with the money, but I couldn’t cash the cheque due to lack of cash at the bank,” he lamented.

Likewise, Bhim Bahadur Khatri, a teacher of Diprendra Higher Secondary School, also reached the NBL Khalanga branch to withdraw money, but in vain.  “I spent the whole day reaching here, but now the bank says it does not have money. I don’t know whether I should wait or return,” he said.

Not only Shah and Khatri, there are many people here who affected by the lack of cash at the bank. The most affected are government offices and employees as Nepal Bank is the only bank through which the government carries out transactions.

NB Khalanga branch manager Kamal Adhikari said the bank had run out of cash as it had to pay conflict victims and consumer committees of various development projects. “In fact, we had cashed cheques worth 50 million rupees till the bank closed its counter yesterday and Rs 20 million was cashed today, before we ran out of cash and had to return clients empty-handed,” he explained, adding they had sought additional cash from Nepal Rastra Bank. “As the bank needs around 600 million rupees towards the fiscal end, we need additional 250 million rupees,” said Adhikari.