Govt mulling revenue payment in instalments: Minister Jwala

 Kathmandu, Dec. 2

Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Prakash Jwala has said the discussions are underway to see if it is possible to arrange revenue payment in instalments.

“There were discussions at the government level about facilitating revenue payment. Since, businesses are greatly affected by the economic slowdown, there is a need to find pragmatic slutions,” he said while addressing the 14^th Annual General Meeting of Nepal Association of Financial Journalists (NAFIJ) on Saturday in Kathmandu.

However, he maintained that people at the bottom rung of the economy have been suffering more and they have no platform to voice their concerns nor do they have access to the agencies to demand relief and solutions.

Minister Jwala urged the media to give voice to the concerns of those sections of the society as well.

He also said that the previous year's payments to the builders have already been made and a small amount is due which will be cleared within a few weeks.

“The government will address the businessmen's suggestions as much as possible. The government is trying to facilitate the private sector as much as possible. Recent initiatives taken by the prime minister to find a way to reduce the bank interest rate and policies to support private sector business will further help in this,” said Minister Jwala.

However, he also asked one and all to refrain from making sweeping comments about economic downfall and promoting hopelessness.

Rajesh Agrawal, President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, said that although he did not disagree with the figures shown by the minister and the governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank to prove that the economy is in a fine situation, the 'ground reality' was different.

"Foreign exchange reserves have now reached Rs. 1500 billion, but if the domestic economy is not running well, there wouldn’t any impact in the market even if it reaches Rs. 2500 billion," he said.

Agrawal urged the government and NRB to find ways to bring down the interest rate and reschedule and restructure the bank loans to give relief to the private businesses.

Likewise, Sur Krishna Vaidya, Vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said that if the economic recession is prolonged, there is a risk that the country will fall into a deep crisis. He asked the government to treat industrialists as taxpayers not otherwise.

"The economy is in recession, it is in an uncomfortable situation, the country is approaching financial disaster. To save the country from this, there should be strong cooperation between the government and the private sector," he said, "For this, the private sector is also discussing with the Ministry of Finance and the NRB to find possible ways of cooperation and business facilitation.”

Kamlesh Kumar Agarwal, Senior Vice-president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, said that the private sector, which contributes 80 per cent to the revenue, is now in trouble. As the process of closing shops and shutters is increasing nationwide, he said that whatever the government says, the voice of the private sector is the real voice.

"Citing their inability to pay bank loan and interest, businessmen are running away, the shutters are empty in many places," he said, "The private sector is waiting for the rescheduling of the loan and the interest rate of the loan to drop to single digits."

Agrawal pointed out to the need for policy reforms in banks and financial institutions, considering the lack of credit investment even though liquidity is easy now. He recalled that the NRB had intervened in the policy to increase the interest rate in the past and said that the same type of intervention is needed to reduce the interest rate as well.

He said that the private sector has positively taken the adoption of some flexibility in the blacklisting system by the central bank. The NRB has given a 90-day window to the creditors so that they wouldn’t be blacklisted by the banks.

Ambika Prasad Paudel, Chairman of the Revenue Committee of the FNCCI, complained that Rs. 150 billion of businessmen's money was used by the government as the VAT was not refunded. "The government has used the money of the business community without any hesitation but it penalises entrepreneurs for even a single day’s delays to file the VAT,” he said.

He said that although the government and the private sector are two wheels of the same chariot, the horse and wheel that drive the chariot are the private sector, so the government is only the driver.

Mahendra Shrestha, General Secretary of General Insurance Association of Nepal (GIAN), said that the government should improve the policy to increase access to insurance.

Journalists Awarded

On the occasion of its 14^th AGM, NAFIJ has awarded 5 financial journalists for their reporting on economy, cooperative, agriculture and insurance. All awards carry certificates and a purse of Rs. 50,000 each.

The 'Bharat Mohan Adhikari - NAFIJ Economic Journalism, and Cooperative awards supported the Bharat Mohan Adhikari Memorial Foundation were awarded to Annapurna Post’s journalist Robin Paudel and Bikas News’s CR Bhandari respectively.

Likewise, Ritesth Tripathi of Ukaalo, and Rina Khatri of Beemapost and Bhima Panthi of Artha Lagani won the GIAN-NAFIJ Insurance, and Agriculture awards respectively. These awards are supported by the GIAN. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 3 December 2023.