Bangladesh’s Howladar Yunus & Co. has emerged as the leading contender to conduct a loan quality assessment of 10 major commercial banks in Nepal, a critical reform mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) confirmed that Howladar Yunus & Co. was the only firm to pass the technical evaluation stage among six shortlisted firms. The company will be awarded the contract if it clears the financial evaluation scheduled for June 8.
The loan quality assessment is a key condition under the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF), amid concerns over loan evergreening and deteriorating asset quality in Nepali banks. As per Nepal’s agreement with the IMF, the audit was expected to begin in April 2024 and conclude by December, followed by a reform action plan to be implemented from February 2025. However, the delay in finalizing an auditor has stalled the process.
The six firms shortlisted in the latest round, following NRB’s second call for proposals, include four international firms and two joint ventures. Alongside Howladar Yunus & Co., the selected international firms are Deloitte Partners (Sri Lanka), KPMG Assurance and Consulting Services LLP (India), and MSKA & Associates (India).
The two joint ventures consist of one led by Subedi & Associates (Nepal), partnering with India’s Mehra Goel & Co. and JKSS & Associates; and another led by India’s SR Batliboi & Associates LLP, in collaboration with Nepal’s B.K. Agrawal & Co.
This marks the second attempt by the central bank to select a consultant. In the first call issued in May 2024, five firms were shortlisted, including Deloitte Financial Advisory BV (Netherlands), KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co. (Pakistan), and joint ventures led by PwC and SR Batliboi. However, only KPMG Assurance & Consulting Services submitted a bid, which exceeded the estimated budget. As a result, NRB scrapped the selection process and issued a fresh call in the month of Poush (December 2024–January 2025).
NRB has also revised its evaluation criteria for consultants, lowering the technical qualification threshold from 70 to 60 points. Under the new scheme, 50 percent of the weight is assigned to consultant qualifications, 40 percent to experience, and 10 percent to institutional capacity.
The IMF-mandated audit is considered crucial to addressing concerns surrounding the health of Nepal’s banking sector.
