Plan implementation

Programmes to recover investment that have been haunting financial institutions as bad loans and to invest money again in development by the financial sector should be introduced. Private banks should be encouraged to take a more active role in nation building. The budget should focus on GDP growth. Long-term banking and financial policies should be implemented.

Budget must bring in programmes to make Nepali products more competitive, in the light of WTO and SAFTA. For this, the government and the private sector must come together. Despite the five-year plans to improve the financial sector, implementation has been poor. The budget make plans that can be implemented.

—Shankar Lal Agrawal, Immediate Past-President, Morang Traders Association.

Better control needed

Interest rate should be controlled through central bank, Nepal Rastra Bank. If the interest rate is not controlled, it will have negative consequences not only on the consumers but the overall

financial sector. The government must rethink parts of the tax policy and widen the tax net. Interest rate in banks should be different for retired people. People receiving gratuity are facing a lot of problems. Senior citizens need special arrangements for availing financial facilities. As foreign employment has emerged as the main source of income for our country, proper channels should be established to help make remittance reach rural areas, ideally by setting up a special department.

—Birendra Prasad Sharma, Chairman, Nepal Financial Workers Association, Nepalgunj.

Simplify procedures

The government should bring in a very definitive loan recovery policy to improve the financial sector. This can also be a deterrent for loan defaulters, a bane to the financial sector. so far the government has not been able to take action against blacklisted creditors. There is distinct possibility that court orders can stop the loan recovery process for years by disallowing sale of collateral policy. The recovering process for defaulted loans needs to be simplified, forcing creditors to pay on time. Despite good policies, the financial sector in Nepal has faltered due to lack of implementation. This also dents investors trust on the entire financial sector, making them hesitate to invest. More alarmingly, this has the potential of discourages foreign aid, as most donors have been insisting in very strong terms their desire to see financial sector reforms take shape in Nepal.

—Pushpa Raj Bhandari, Chief Officer, Birgunj Finance Ltd.

Focus rural areas

Budgets over the years have proved to be mere assurances that are never implemented, monitored or evaluated. Therefore, to be meaningful, this year’s budget needs to be practical and something that can be applied to the ground realities. Budget should be able to create an environment for investment in rural areas. This can be done by using the money collected in urban centres. For this, it is essential to end the armed conflict first, allowing financial institutions, commercial enterprises and industries to work in rural areas. Presently, all finance companies are centred in cities. The acts regarding finance companies and banks are not practical and encourage unhealthy competition. The budget must take corrective measures.

—Kishore Gyawali, Share Holder, Sidhartha Development Bank, Butwal