Kathmandu, Dec. 29
Vice-Chairman
of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr. Min Bahadur Shrestha has said
that a strong banking industry can contribute to the development and growth of
the other business sectors.
Speaking
at the third annual general meeting of the Confederation of Banks and Financial
Institutions of Nepal (CBFIN) in Kathmandu on Friday, he said, "The
government is aware of this fact and is paying attention to the healthy growth of the banking sector."
"So
far, about Rs. 6 trillion deposits are in the banking sector, and about Rs. 5
trillion is being invested. That investment could not increase production and
employment as expected," said Dr. Shrestha, "If this sector contributes
to the increment of production and employment, it will also be the first
beneficiary of that development."
According
to him, among the various sectors of the country, the banking and financial
sector is the sector running with international standards.
Dr.
Shrestha said that the production in the country decreased and the
ever-increasing imports have aggravated the challenges in the economy.
"There is a situation that when we try to resolve the problem in one
sector, a problem props up in another sector."
Member
of the NPC Dr. Ramesh Chandra Paudel said that unless the manufacturing sector was
freed from financial problems, production and productivity would not increase
and the youth would not get employment. For that, he said, an environment
should be created in which up to 20 per cent of the loan amount could be
invested in the manufacturing sector.
He
said that the interest rates on loans given to the manufacturing sector should
be less than that of the service sector.
President
of CBFIN Pawan Kumar Golyan urged the NPC to give priority to the financial
sector and the private sector in the 16th Plan that would be
implemented for the next five years from the Fiscal Year 2024/25. He said that
banks and financial institutions are ready to contribute to fulfilling the
quantitative targets taken by the NPC.
He
also urged the Commission to take the bank and financial sector together in the
upliftment and growth of the industry, energy and service sectors along with
the agricultural sector to lead the country on the path of development.
Golyan
suggested increasing the capital expenditure to improve the overall economy. The
CBFIN suggested that the policy arrangements for using domestic products should
be implemented compulsorily, preferential interest rates should be maintained
for productive, exporting and employment sectors, innovation, development of
self-entrepreneurship and improvement and upgrading of domestic, small and
medium entrepreneurs and industries should be prioritised.
Addressing
the programme, Rajendra Malla, President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce, said
that the economic indicators have turned negative from all sides and single-digit
interest rates should be maintained to keep the economy running.
He
said that the economy will not be accelerated as long as there is a
double-digit interest rate. "The government's economic policy should match
the five-year plan. Without that, the economic sector will not be viable,"
said Malla.
Likewise,
Vice-President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Amit More said
that the rule of law should be established in the country, and the arrears would
be paid when evidence was found in the dispute with the Nepal Electricity
Authority regarding the payments of the dues for dedicated electricity supplied
several years ago.
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