One of the greatest tasks facing Chiranjibi Nepal, governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the country's central bank, lies in consolidating its banking sector. NRB is currently supervising 196 banks and financial institutions, including 28 commercial banks, for an economy of just $21bn.
In 2015, Mr Nepal tried to cut the number of banks by increasing the paid-up capital requirement fourfold to Nrs8bn ($76.4m). Some mergers and acquisitions (M&A) materialised, with 157 financial institutions merging into 39, but these mainly involved small lenders and not commercial banks.