Kathmandu, Sept. 21
Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that a certain
percentage of the money in government institutions will be deposited in
microfinance fund.
“The process of depositing a certain per cent of the amount
of the institutions to the fund to provide concessional loans to small farmers
and small start-ups has been moved ahead,” he said while addressing the 49th
anniversary ceremony of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee fund (DCGF).
While saying that it is difficult and complicated for small
farmers and small businessmen to get loans from big banks and financial
institutions, Minister Sharma said that now loans will be provided easily from
microfinance fund.
"A mechanism is being created to provide a certain per cent
of the capital in government institutions to provide loans to small farmers,
small entrepreneurs and small startups through the Microfinance Fund in a
hassle-less manner," he said.
The government is also developing a procedure to mobilise
loans to the small farmers and entrepreneurs by all the BFIs through the fund.
The finance minister also urged the BFIs and stakeholders to give suggestions
for the procedure of that mechanism.
The budget of the fiscal year 2022/23 mentions that a
microfinance fund of Rs. 500 billion will be created, and concessional loans
will be given to small farmers, small entrepreneurs and startups through the
same fund.
Likewise, Minister Sharma urged the BFIs to invest in small
production-oriented businesses while mentioning that imports cannot be
substituted without increasing domestic production.
Such support will help in increasing the production which
will support in increasing agri-processing industries and export of such goods,
he maintained.
According to him, the main objective of the government is
import substitution. There is no other alternative to increase production for
import substitution. Through small industries that can increase agricultural
production and process it to a certain level, domestic as well as export markets
can be created.
He said that the existing liquidity problem will be solved with
a joint effort by the MoF, Nepal Rastra Bank and other agencies after a
comprehensive discussion.
Similarly, Minister Sharma mentioned that pandemics, natural
disasters and unexpected events have been adversely fueling the price hike and
creating economic challenges.
“Even in such cases, there is an urgent need to build an
economy that meets the minimum needs. There should be an economy that can
easily handle the minimum needs of the people. We have enough resources and
means for this," he said.
The working group formed by the ministry to study the
viability and operation of microfinance fund has submitted the report with the
draft of fund management regulations to Minister Sharma on Tuesday. The group
was led by Suman Dahal, Joint Secretary of the MoF.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 September 2022.
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