Banking News – The government’s negotiation team and the Microfinance Victims’ Struggle Committee are scheduled to hold another round of talks today following what officials described as a positive and solution-oriented discussion on Thursday.

Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle formed the negotiation committee to engage with protesting microfinance borrowers who have been demanding government intervention.

The committee is led by Mahesh Acharya, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. Other members include Binod Kumar Bhattarai, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Law; Suresh Panthi, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs; and Ramu Poudel, Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank. Bolaraj Acharya, Under Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, serves as the committee’s member secretary.

The protesting microfinance victims have been staging demonstrations, demanding an immediate halt to collateral auctions and legal actions against borrowers. They have also called for the restructuring of microfinance institutions, the abolition of the group lending system, consolidation and rescheduling of loans taken from multiple microfinance institutions by the same borrower, and the introduction of concessional interest rates.

Both sides are expected to continue discussions in an effort to reach a mutually acceptable solution to the ongoing dispute.