Kathmandu, Aug. 13:
Finance Minister Dr.
Yuba Raj Khatiwada has directed the microfinance institutions (MFIs) to go to
the areas where the rate of poverty is high.
“Yours’ is the business that entails the value of social responsibility
of creating employment and reducing poverty. Go to the remote areas and
collaborate with the local governments,” he said while speaking at the 27th
Anniversary celebration programme of the Centre for Self-help Development (CSD)
on Monday.
He said that Nepal had made significant progress in terms reducing
poverty with almost one per cent down a year, and international development
partners such as the World Bank had appreciated it, but the result of poverty
reduction varied across various caste and ethnicities.
The socio-economic
transformation of a society is impossible without the synchronisation of
entrepreneurship and technology. The government and the regulatory body are
ready to provide any kind of support and cooperation required for the mission
of poverty alleviation, he said.
According to the Finance Minister, microfinance, the Class ‘D’ banks,
can help increase people’s access to finance and inclusive development, hence
they should focus on supporting to create enterprises, entrepreneurs and employment.
“The government is ready to support you with better policies, but it
wants visible results. So, develop work plans and strategies. Our aim is to end
poverty through entrepreneurship development and employment,” he said.
Dr. Khatiwada warned the MFIs not to promote multiple lending.
He also said that the government had been trying to make employment a
constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right.
CSD Chairman Shankar Man Shrestha said that the greatest problem was the
rise of unhealthy competition and multiple financing by the MFIs which had
resulted in over indebtedness of the clients.
“When
microfinance first started we were able to reach considerable number of the
rural population and provide them with the required services. But now, with the
rise of the number of MFIs, the fundamentals of microfinance have been
forgotten,” he said.
Surkhet-based Batabaran Sudhar Bahuuddeshiya
Sahakari Sanstha Ltd. was awarded with a purse of Rs. 100,000 for its
impressive role in entrepreneurship development.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 14 August 2018.
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