Kathmandu, November 30

The country should focus on boosting production in those areas where the country has enough potential to be self-reliant to minimise dependency on imported goods, which is causing alarming trade deficit, said Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun.

Speaking at a programme organised by Society of Economic Journalists Nepal (SEJON) to mark its 19th annual day today, Vice President Pun said that the country has tremendous opportunities to expand production in agriculture and industrial sectors, which will not only help the economy to grow but also create jobs in the country.

“We have been importing cereals, fruits, vegetables, lentils and meat products, among other agro-commodities that the country itself has enough potential to produce,” said Pun. “The remittance-based economy is not sustainable and to attain high and continuous growth, we have to focus on production, create more jobs.”

He further emphasised that the political parties and the government have shown commitment for the economic development of the country after the promulgation of the new constitution, and it will be achieved through effective implementation of the constitution. He also highlighted the need to accelerate the works of major infrastructure projects and their early completion to enhance livelihood of people.

Addressing the programme, Minister for Energy Janardan Sharma said his ministry has been making efforts to end the perennial problem of power outage all across the country and expediting the power sector projects to expand installed capacity of the country by two-folds within a few years.

“As power is considered a critical factor for enhancing the whole investment environment, Ministry of Energy has been effectively working towards that direction,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ramesh Lekhak said institutionalisation of the accomplishments made by political change depends on economic empowerment of people, which is why, the government and private sector should play effective role to make people economically empowered by creating economic opportunities within the country.

‘Talks with India positive’

Kathmandu, November 30

Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Chiranjibi Nepal has said that the government of India is positive towards providing exchange facility for demonetised Indian banknotes that are in Nepal.

“I have been interacting with my counterpart at Reserve Bank of India and with officials at the Embassy of India in Kathmandu on a regular basis and they are giving positive signals with regards to providing exchange facility to Nepal,” said Governor Nepal, during the 19th annual day function of the Society of Economic Journalists Nepal in the Capital today. “But it is not certain when they will ask us to go ahead with the exchange facility.”

Until the government of India comes up with a formal decision on the matter, the central bank cannot do anything with the demonetised high-denomination banknotes, according to the governor. It is reported that the inter-ministerial committee formed by the government of India comprising officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India to look into the issue of providing exchange facility to Nepal and Bhutan has submitted its report to the high-level political leadership of the government.

Apart from India, the Indian currency is widely accepted in Nepal and Bhutan in South Asia. After the decision of the Indian government to demonetise INR 500 and INR 1,000 notes, Nepal has been seeking a way out to surrender Indian notes that are in Nepal. However, the Indian government has not made any decision on the matter till date.