Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) will invest Rs 7 billion for additional 40,000 former Nepal Army personnel and the Army family members living on family pension.
Under the micro finance program, the scheme aims to uplift lifestyle of the ex-army personnel and their families living on family pension by loaning out money to them without collateral, NIBL executive chief Jyoti Pandey said.
The scheme is coordinated by the Nepal Army Welfare Board (NAWB).
Women wanting to run a micro business can, under this program, get up to Rs 500,000 each, while men up to Rs 400,000 each. Likewise, the bank will loan out up to Rs 10 million for the persons wishing to start a partnership business under agriculture and livestock program.
"We are encouraged to continue the scheme seeing progress made in the lifestyle of those former army personnel and their families through various business activities set up taking loan under the same program," said Pandey.
Earlier, the bank had loaned out Rs 3.5 billion to 21,161 ex army personnel since the scheme started four years ago, without collateral, at minimum 4.5 percent interest rate, he said.
There are a total of 55,969 ex-army personnel and 12,417 Army family members living on family pension in the country, according to the NAWB.
Many beneficiaries of the scheme are engaging in various business ventures like hotel, broom grass and cardamom farming, pig and goat rearing and fishery.
Many ex-army personnel and the Army families living on family pensions have benefited from the scheme, said NAWB chief officer Padam Bilash Karki.
