Kathmandu, April 27
Minister for Finance, Prakash Sharan Mahat has indicated the slowdown in the country's economy to be the fundamental problem at present.
Speaking at a programme related to the formulation of budget and revenue policy for the upcoming financial year 2023-24, Minister Mahat suggested the need to ease the monetary policy and flow capital in the market accordingly to assist businesses at present.
"Monetary policy and fiscal policy are two crucial parts of the economy. As the responsibility of formulating monetary policy is given to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), it has the right to work independently. While monetary policy was tightened in some cases to address the issues seen in the economy, I think it is time to relax it," he said.
Stating that the percentage of capital expenditure is at 30 per cent, Minister Mahat also shared that it was necessary to increase its effectiveness. He shared that as many contractors face problems in site clearance, foreign aided projects, including domestic investment projects, have not been able to move forward.
"Such issues will be kept in mind while formulating new projects. There is a tradition of handing development contracts only in the last quarter of the year. With discussions with line ministries, this will be discontinued and everyone will need to start work from the first day," he said.
Also, he stressed on the need to take collaborative approaches alongside government bodies and the private sector to further address the issues seen in the economy.
"There are problems in the state system, I have no hesitation in addressing these problems and admitting that they exist. It is necessary to start eliminating these problems. In order to overcome this challenge, we must start working with restraint and walk the talk. The private sector should get to the root of their problem and point out the cause and effect, and suggest their removal," Minister Mahat added.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 28, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
