FNCCI and Financial Leaders Urge Debt Deferrals and Soft Loans After Trishuli River Floods
Financial experts, business leaders, and local government officials have issued an urgent appeal for state and banking intervention to revitalize small-scale enterprises and local economies devastated by severe late-August flash floods across Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts. Speaking at the 5th National Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Kathmandu, prominent stakeholders highlighted the critical necessity for immediate targeted relief packages, soft loans, and debt deferral mechanisms to prevent widespread economic collapse in the flood-ravaged region. Raj Kumar Karki, Chairperson of the Disaster Management Committee at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), stressed that rebuilding the shattered confidence of affected entrepreneurs requires concrete financial flexibility and direct backing from state authorities. Reinforcing these recommendations, financial sector expert Upendra Prasad Poudel, Asia-Pacific Regional Representative for the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, advocated for temporary freezes on loan recoveries and urged commercial banks to show heightened sensitivity toward struggling borrowers during this critical recovery phase. Presenting ground-level realities from the affected areas, Deputy Mayor of Bidur Municipality Prabha Bogati revealed that key economic hubs—including Betrawati, Trishuli Bazaar, and Devighat—suffered catastrophic structural and commercial damages during the flooding triggered by the overflowing Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers. She noted that destroyed bridges and severely impaired transport infrastructure continue to cripple the supply of basic essential commodities across both Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts, leaving small-scale traders, agricultural workers, and local residents facing acute livelihoods distress while struggling to rebuild without institutional financial support.
