Small savers of troubled cooperatives begin receiving refunds, 378 paid on first day

Kathmandu: The government has started returning money to small savers of troubled cooperatives. The Problematic Cooperative Management Committee returned savings to 378 small savers from three cooperatives on the first day.

According to the committee, 215 savers from Kantipur Cooperative, 156 from Shiva Shikhar Multipurpose Cooperative, and 7 from Pashupati Cooperative received their savings back. The committee stated that although payments to small savers have begun from today, refunds will now be processed sequentially based on the amount of savings.

The committee said that around Rs 46 billion in savings belonging to approximately 76,000 depositors of troubled cooperatives needs to be returned. Most of the affected depositors are small savers.

Those who have deposited less than Rs 500,000 are classified as small savers, while those with deposits above Rs 500,000 are classified as large savers. Of the total 76,000 savers, 18,000 have deposits exceeding Rs 500,000, the committee stated.

Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Pratibha Rawal said that efforts to recover loans from cooperatives are also being carried out rapidly to facilitate the return of savings. She added that after the names of borrowers from problematic cooperatives were made public, many borrowers have begun repaying their loans.

According to the Problematic Cooperative Management Committee, borrowers of troubled cooperatives have so far repaid more than Rs 20 million. The committee stated that loan recovery and savings repayment will proceed simultaneously.