Citing that reforms are not yet completed, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the state’s monetary regulatory body, has extended the management contract of Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) by another 6 months.

The meeting of the NRB’s board of directors Thursday decided to extend the tenure of ICC Ireland Group by 6 more months. The group has been running NBL’s management for the last five years.

The foreign management two year contract was to expire Friday. NRB’s board of directors took this decision based on the recommendation of a high-level committee headed by the Finance Minister.

ICC had two weeks ago proposed to extend the contract for another 18 months, however NRB decided to extend it by only 6 more months.

Under financial sector reform, the management of two largest government owned banks, NBL and Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), was given to foreign management five years ago.