Among bank head honchos, Indians get lowest salary in Nepal

KATHMANDU - Nepal may be one of the poorest nations in the world and India may have one of the fastest growing economies, but the head honchos of Nepali banks take home pays that are way ahead of the salaries received by the chiefs of Indian joint-venture banks in the country.

The two Indian JV banks in Nepal - Nepal SBI, Nepal’s first Indo-Nepal JV bank promoted by Indian goliath State Bank of India, and Everest Bank, partnered by Indian public sector Punjab National Bank - are at the bottom of the 29 commercial banks in Nepal where pays and perks of CEOs are concerned.

The Nepal SBI chief draws a monthly salary of NRS 117,000 and ranks 25th, followed by the Everest’s chief boss, who gets paid NRS 106,000.

The highest salary is drawn by the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Nepal -a whopping NRS 1.9 million.

It is followed by Nepali bank, Kumari, named after Nepal’s protecting deity, that pays its chief NRS 1 million.

There is, however, a sharp divide between the top two and the rest. Nepal Investment Bank, the third on the list, pays its CEO NRS 190,000.

Even other JVs pay their CEOs more than the Indian ones.

Nabil Bank, Nepal’s first foreign JV in the banking sector that opened in 1984 with Emirates Bank but now has Ireland’s NB International as its partner, ranks fourth with the CEO receiving NRS 115,000.

Even the floundering Nepal Bangladesh Bank, a JV with Bangladesh’s IFIC, ranks ahead with the CEO salary of NRS 167,000.

However, Nepal’s regulatory banking authority has now moved in, seeking to control the pay and perks paid by banks.

Last week, Nepal Rastra Bank unveiled guidelines that are seeking to limit the annual compensation of a bank chief to five percent of average staff expenses over the last three years or 0.025 percent of previous year’s total assets, whichever is lower.

However, the ceiling excludes JVs that have CEOs seconded by parent companies under a technical service agreement.

While promoters are hailing the move, saying it will prevent poaching, bankers are opposed to them and are said to be mulling legal options.

(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in)