Gold a non-yielding asset no more; NRB allows commercial banks to accept gold as interest yielding deposits

The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has issued a notice allowing banks to accept gold as deposits from customers.

As per the notice published on Falgun 22, 2076 i.e. today, the general public can now deposit gold to banks and earn interest on the same. The minimum amount of deposit has been set at 25 grams and gold with at least 995 fitness will only be accepted deposits.

The depositors are required to specify their preference regarding earning interest in cash or gold beforehand. The minimum period of deposit is 3 years while the maximum period is 5 years, which can be renewed upon maturity.

The rate of interest will be decided by the banks. Depositors earning interest in cash will be paid quarterly while those earning interest in gold will be compounded quarterly and paid at the time of maturity. The banks will be considering the gold rates given by the Gold & Silver Traders Association.

The banks will be allowed to consider these deposits for maintaining CRR and SLR. Depositors looking to deposit gold worth more than Rs.10 Lakhs will be required to disclose the source. The deposited loan can be used as collateral for loan up to 70% of the deposited amount.