Kathmandu, June 15
Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Maha Prasad
Adhikari, stated the facilities given to the businesses would not be continued
any further and the private sector should not lobby for the same.
"It is illogical to demand the continuation of the
facilities offered during the challenging times like coronavirus," he said
while speaking at the discussion programme on Monetary Policy for the Fiscal
Year 2023/24 organised by the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) in the
Capital on Thursday.
According to him, in the post-COVID scenario, the government
and central bank had supported, despite limited resouorces, the businesses that
were facing challenge in repayment of the loans and rehabilitation of their
businesses.
The central bank allowed restructuring and rescheduling the
loans as per the requirement of the size of business. Loan payment deferrals
were also allowed. Likewise, a large fund was created to provide refinancing
facility to the pandemic-affected businesses.
Stating that the monetary expansion in the next fiscal
2023/24 would be guided by the rates of economic growth and inflation as
targeted by the government in its budget speech for that year, Governor
Adhikari expressed his hopes that the ever-increasing price of goods and
services would be moderated next year.
Through the budget of FY 2023/24, Finance Minister, Dr.
Prakash Sharan Mahat, projected 6 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
growth and 6.5 per cent inflation rate.
The Governor of the central bank said that financial
inclusion and digital financial services are the priority areas of the NRB.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 16 June 2023.
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