ESP Steering Committee sends Action Taken Report to ACC

2026-01-25 - 21:07

The Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP) Steering Committee has written to the Anti Corruption Commission on 16 January 2026 highlighting what action it has taken immediately on the ACC’s findings and recommendation on the four ESP cases. As a follow up to the ACC letter and report the ESP Committee had directed the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) to execute the recovery and cancellation of the three ESP loans via a letter sent on 23rd December 2025. This was in keeping with the mandate entrusted to the RMA for the administration and implementation of the ESP Concession Loans. Accordingly, RMA convened a meeting with the senior management of the three Financial Institutions (FIs) namely Bhutan Development Bank Limited (BDBL), T-Bank Limited and Bhutan Insurance Limited (BIL) on 20 December 2025 to underscore the gravity of the matter and the need for appropriate corrective measures. On December 22, 2025, the RMA issued formal directives instructing these institutions to initiate the recoupment of ESP-related loans as per the ACC’s referral letter. The ESP Steering Committee was informed by the RMA on the action taken by them as per a letter dated 16th January 2026. Bhutan Development Bank Limited (BDBL) The BDBL management had apprised the Board on the ACC’s findings related to M/s Wangchuk Blocks, and the matter was deliberated on December 22, 2025. On January 07, 2026, BDBL formally directed M/s Wangchuk Blocks to liquidate the outstanding ESP loan balance of Nu. 35.177 million (as of November 30, 2025) by January 31, 2026. T Bank Limited (T Bank) The T Bank Board deliberated on the issues related to Bhutan Biscuits and Gourmet on January 01, 2026. On December 23, 2025, T Bank Head Office instructed its Wangdue Branch to recover the full interest differential between the ESP CCL and standard commercial loan rates, effective retroactively from the date of disbursement. They were also directed to terminate the existing ESP loan agreement and execute a new commercial loan agreement. As T Bank had prefunded the loan amount and has not yet received corresponding ESP funds, recoupment in this case is not applicable. Instead, the T Bank will not be provided the refund from the ESP funds. Bhutan Insurance Limited (BIL) The BIL Board deliberated on the issue related to T&K Concrete and Products on December 30, 2025. BIL has disbursed a total of Nu. 50.831 million to date. While BIL maintains that the project remains eligible for ESP support, the RMA concurs with the ACC’s findings and has accordingly informed the BIL. As with T Bank, because BIL prefunded the amount and has not yet received ESP funds, recoupment is not applicable; and instead BIL will not be provided the refund from the ESP funds. Apart from the above action, the RMA in line with ACC’s recommendation has three months to submit a report after looking at all the medium scale loans of Nu 10 mn to Nu 100 mn.