Inaugurating the first National
Microfinance Member’s Summit
in the capital, PM Oli said, “This is the government of poor and is committed
to reducing poverty by 2030 as per our international commitment. Specially, the
government is working to make significant changes in the agriculture sector
within two years.”
He lamented that even though
the country was rich in natural resources, it was still least developed and
said that endeavours were underway to change the pathetic situation and lead
the country towards the path of development.
Reiterating the government’s
prime agenda were the implementation of the new constitution, post-quake
reconstruction and economic progress, the Prime Minister claimed that the
government’s policies and programmes for the Fiscal Year 2016/17 was the
reflection of its pledge to the development.
PM Oli praised the microfinance
institutions for their role in promoting entrepreneurship, generating
employment and bringing people out of poverty. “Microfinance companies are
helping people to achieve financial progress even with the mobilisation of
small amount of money.”
But, you should be very much
careful that the money should go to the right place and right hands, the PM
warned. He reminded the microfinance companies that their campaign was for social
transformation, not profit-oriented.
Nepal Rastra Bank governor Dr.
Chiranjivi Nepal ,
directed the microfinance companies to extend their services to the rural and
remote areas. “When you are more focused on the urban areas, it creates aberrations.
Therefore, go to the villages, you will find creative hands and entrepreneurial
minds.”
He informed that the central
bank had directed to establish Consumer Protection Fund in order to reduce the
risk in the microfinance sector.
“The NRB is mulling to launch a
mapping of the country. Once the mapping is completed, we will decide the areas
for the microfinance to go,” Dr. Nepal stated.
He urged the microfinance
companies to offer skill development and entrepreneurship training to those whom
they mobilize loans.
Shankar Man Shrestha, chairman
of the Summit
organizing committee, said that the conference said that the conference would
be a sharing ground of varied microfinance members and would strive towards
finding ways to better serve the ultra-poor and marginalized sections of the
country.
Dr. Binod Atreya, executive
director of Micro-Finance Promotion and Supervision Department at the NRB, said
the capital increment plan for the microfinance companies was on cards.
The first ever two-day national
level Microfinance Member’s Summit
has brought over 600 participants, of which 500 are women microfinance members
from 75 districts.
The participants told their
stories that began with poverty and social exclusion and ended with prosperity
of their families. They suggested discouraging the practice of obtaining loans
from more than one microfinance institutions.
About 22 female microfinance
members shared their experience with the microfinance services.
The conference is being
organized by the principal Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and co-ordination
of the Centre for Self-Help Development (CSD).
Forty-one microfinance banks, 25 non-government organizations
and about 100 cooperatives are offering microfinance service across the
country. They altogether are catering service to 1.8 million families.
According to the latest data,
about Rs. 300 billion loan was mobilized by the microfinance institutions and
the repayment rate was 99 per cent.
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