Speaker stresses joint efforts to resolve economic challenges

 Kathmandu, Apr. 10

Speaker of the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota has said that the current economic challenges should be resolved with joint efforts from the government and private sector.

"The national economy is facing a problem at a time when it was recovering from the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said while addressing the 71^st anniversary programme of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) on Sunday.

He urged the entrepreneurs to run their businesses with patience and adhere to business ethics.

According to him, a good and efficient entrepreneur is a guide to the society so each of them should be abide by the national law and rules.

Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi said that the government was supporting promotion and expansion of the business sector and assured that further moves would be taken in consultation of all stakeholders.

President of NCC Rajendra Malla suggested the government should announce a special package to support the revival of the businesses still struggling to come out of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The budget of the coming fiscal year 2022/23 should announce a special package for the economic development with a provision of refinancing, rescheduling etc.," he said.

He also said that the limit of income for income tax should be Rs. 600,000 for an individual and Rs. 800,000 for married couple. According to him, threshold to maintain account for Value Added Tax should be increased to Rs. 10 million from current Rs. 5 million and tax rate should be 0.5 per cent to support the small entrepreneurs.

Malla suggested the government to do homework to combat with the challenges that Nepal would face after graduating from the Least Developed Country to a developing nation in 2026.

"Nepal should try to obtain the facilities that a landlocked country would get," he said.

He expressed concerns over the widening trade deficit and swelling imports of agricultural products, and said that all alternatives to promote export should be applied.

By mid-March, Nepal had imported goods worth Rs. 1308.7 billion against the exports of Rs. 147.7 billion.

Meanwhile, NCC has felicitated chairman of ICTC Group Ram Lal Shrestha with Ishwor Lal Life Time Achievement Award. Speaker Sapkota awarded Shrestha at the programme.

NCC presented honours to chairman of Vaidya's Organisation of Industries and Trading House Suraj Vaidya, chairman of Annapurna Travel Nawa Raj Ghimire, chairman of Nimbus Jagadish Agrawal and chairman of HC Dugar Group Hukam Chand Dugar for their contributions to trade, tourism, agriculture and industry respectively.

Likewise, businesses awarded on the occasion were Chhatrapati Free Clinic, Mohini Maharjan and Gita Shrestha of Nepal Silk, Dhanusha, Sainamaina, Krishnanagar and Bhaktapur Chamber of Commerce. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 11 April 2022.