सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. She had completed her university studies. She had a good job as an assistant professor on campus. Dr. Neelam Dhungana of Jhapa had a complete family with her educated husband and daughter. With the achievements and success she had achieved at a young age, Neelam had no extra expectations for her career. But Neelam’s writing was different.
She was not allowed to be limited to that. An opportunity came, following which she has reached the position of Senior Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank today. She is responsible for making policies and regulations by analyzing economic indicators and implementing them effectively to make the economy dynamic.
Since school, Dhungana, a talented student, never had to lag behind in class. The family environment was conducive to always excelling in studies. Her father was a secondary school inspector and her mother was a teacher. “I think it is the support, cooperation and inspiration from the family that helps me excel in studies, from helping with household chores to excelling in studies,” Dr. Dhungana said during a conversation at her residence in Hepali Heights, Bansbari a few days ago.
Born in Jhapa, Neelam’s father was a government employee, so wherever she went, her schooling also moved there. She completed her SLC from Himalayan Secondary School in Damak in 2041 BS. Dhungana’s choice for subsequent education was the science faculty. But there were no science-teaching campuses in Damak. Her desire was lost there. She had to study commerce as an alternative. She scored the best marks in the district in ICom.
After completing her ICom in Damak, she enrolled in Mahendra Morang Campus in Biratnagar to study ‘B.Com’. After completing her first year of undergraduate studies, she got married at the young age of 19. She continued her studies even after marriage. After some time, her daughter was born. After that, she took a break from her studies for a year. Soon after, she studied for an MBA at the postgraduate campus in Biratnagar. Along with her studies, she started teaching at Devkota Boarding School. At the postgraduate level, she stood second overall and first among women at Tribhuvan University.
She came to the university in Kirtipur and received the ‘Gold Medal’ from the then King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah. After returning, she got a job as an assistant professor at the postgraduate campus. After getting a job like her studies, she did not even think of going to another place. “Since my family, studies and job were all the same, I had no desire to go to another place. I was satisfied with what I had achieved,” said Dr. Dhungana.
At the same time, Nepal Rastra Bank opened a job at the assistant officer level. But Dhungana was not interested or informed about it. “My husband’s student Sunil Khanal came with an advertisement, look at this advertisement, madam, now it’s not enough to limit yourself to teaching,” Dr. Neelam recalled the past, “At that time, he had encouraged me to work in the civil service even if it wasn’t in the Rastra Bank, I had filled the application form because of him.” After filling the form, I also had to prepare. She brought some publications from the Biratnagar office of the central bank.
With the help of some newspapers and some books, she also prepared. She took a night bus to Kathmandu for the exam. After resting at a relative’s house in Ekantakuna, when he arrived at the Central Bank in Baluwatar, a notice posted on a tree outside said, “The assistant officer exam has been postponed for the time being due to political changes.” After a long preparation and a difficult journey from Biratnagar to Kathmandu, the notice of the postponement of the exam was beyond Dhungana’s expectations. In a way, he felt disappointed. He felt that so much hard work had been wasted. It was difficult to explain. But what could he do other than accept it? When he took a car from Baluwatar to Ratna Park with a disappointed heart, he found books for sale on the roadside.
“I found it strange that books were being sold on the road, I have never seen such a thing in Biratnagar. Before getting into the car in Ekantakuna, I was looking at the book, but when I saw the ‘Nepal Rastra Bank Competition Guide’, I couldn’t help but agree.” After reaching Biratnagar, when he read the book, he felt that perhaps he was not yet ready. The book contained many things that she had missed. She feels that the same book became a means for her to enter the National Bank. The examination was held in Asar 2054 BS. Neelam Dhungana’s name was also among those who passed the results published before the start of Dashain.
“Now I think that the postponement of the exam at the beginning and finding that book by chance was probably an opportunity for me, maybe I had not prepared well in advance,” she said. The results were published, but I do not know. She heard the news five days after the results were announced from a relative whom she met at the bus stand while going from Biratnagar to Jhapa during Dashain. “He told me that your name has appeared in Gorkhapatra, congratulations, when will you feed the laddu, I found out, I was confused about where to go to see the results as I was walking home on Dashain,” she said. “I was worried about when the interview would be held, whether I would be released. However, I decided to go to Jhapa thinking that it would definitely not happen during a big festival like Dashain.”
The same result kept on revolving in her mind throughout Dashain. After Dashain, she returned to Biratnagar and requested to open the campus library, and when she found her name in the old Gorkhapatra, she was very happy. The cutting of the Gorkhapatra in which her name appeared is still safe, she says. The interview date was fixed for the day after Bhai Tika in 2054 BS, and she passed that too. She had come to Kathmandu to receive her appointment letter, but she had to stay here. She had been assigned to the Foreign Exchange Management Department in the central office. After spending the next year in Kathmandu, Neelam moved to Biratnagar.
After spending three years there, she returned to Kathmandu. Since then, she has been proving herself by working in various departments at the National Bank. She went to Australia from the bank and completed her master’s degree in economics from the University of Wollongong. A few years later, she also completed her doctorate in ‘Monetary Transmission Mechanism and Bank Lending Behavior’ from India. “I got many opportunities while working at the central bank. I passed every internal competitive exam in the first attempt and was promoted to the director level. It seems natural that various types of challenges and failures come in working situations.
Challenges and failures teach patience and lessons. “As for the Executive Director, he was promoted based on performance evaluation, that’s the rule,” she said. While at the central bank, Dhangana has gained work experience in the Foreign Exchange Management Department, Biratnagar Regional Office, Bank Supervision Department, Economic Research Department, Internal Audit Department and Monetary Management Department. She spent the longest period of her tenure in the Economic Research Department for about 11 years. She successfully worked as a Regional Director in the Pokhara Regional Office for 14 months. While working in the Monetary Management Department, she was appointed as Senior Deputy Governor by the Government of Nepal. Economic Situation Dr. Dhangana, who is closely monitoring the economy, said that most of the economic indicators are positive at present.
However, there are many aspects that need to be improved. “Inflation in the seven months of the current fiscal year is 4.16 percent (within the desired range), the external sector is in a comfortable position. There are foreign exchange reserves of Rs 2,369 billion, the current account is in surplus, and foreign investment, loans, and grants have also increased compared to last year. Remittances have increased by 7.3 percent to Rs 900 billion,” she said. Although capital expenditure and revenue mobilization in the government finance sector have not been as expected, the growth rate is significant compared to last year. While government expenditure increased by 2.9 percent last year, it has increased by 9.9 percent this year. Similarly, revenue mobilization has increased by 13.3 percent this year, compared to 10.2 percent in the same period last year. There are many areas of hope in the economy. There are ample investment opportunities. She understands that the current situation where interest rates in the banking sector have fallen to a low point and liquidity is abundant can be taken as a golden opportunity for public and private investment.
“Despite most of the indicators being good, there is excess liquidity in the banks, credit has not been able to flow as expected, the interest rate on loans given by commercial banks has fallen from an average of 11.08 percent last year to 8.55 percent now, and the base rate has also fallen from an average of 9.06 percent to 6. “It has reached 46 percent, but credit flow has not increased as expected,” she said. “There may be some shortcomings here and there, but basically the problem is in the aggregate demand.”
Deputy Governor Dr. Dhungana says that the current problems in the economy have started since the Corona pandemic. Some of the flexible measures taken at that time to revive the economy have had many positive effects as well as some negative effects. She understands that although the stimulus package, debt restructuring, and refinancing policies given by the central bank have restarted 85 percent of the industrial and commercial sectors, some of the loans have not been utilized in the productive sector, which has had some problems. The impact of this is now being seen in the recovery of the bank, which has increased bad loans.
In addition, she understands that non-economic activities created as a campaign to avoid paying off the loans in the meantime are also a factor. She says that domestic demand has decreased when a large number of young people go abroad. When consumers go abroad, demand automatically weakens. This The impact is seen in private sector production and ultimately bank credit flow. If there is no demand, it is natural for credit flow to be weak for production. But now, as mentioned above, it is time to utilize the low interest rates and abundant liquidity in the banking system as a golden opportunity for public and private investment.
The situation where the credit growth rate is higher than last year can also be seen in this sense. The role of the central bank The main role of the central bank is to facilitate economic development, keeping in mind macroeconomic stability. To make the economy dynamic through credit and interest rates. Apart from that, work can also be done through policy measures. Even now, 40 percent of credit to the small and medium sector, agriculture and energy sectors is possible because of the central bank. Recently, Nepal has been on the grey list and the central bank is playing its best role to remove it, he said.
Dr. Dhungana says, “The Financial Intelligence Unit is under the Central Bank, and suspicious transactions and money laundering in the financial sector are being closely monitored,” she said. “Recently, a separate AML/CFT Supervision Division has been formed in Nepal Rastra Bank to closely supervise banking and financial institutions regarding AML/CFT.” In addition, she believes that there is a need to run a public awareness campaign on AML/CFT at the grassroots level. It can be done through radio and television or through various training courses. Due to the central bank’s strictness, there has been a lot of improvement in money laundering. The international community is looking for even more ‘compliance’.
He understands that FATF is looking for ‘compliance’ in all areas and that the expected ‘compliance’ is not seen, so he was put on the ‘grey list’. The prospect of becoming Nepal’s first female governor is following the candidate for the governor, Senior Deputy Governor Dr. Neelam Dhungana. That possibility has automatically been given to her as Senior Deputy Governor. It has been heard that a recommendation committee has also been formed under the leadership of the Finance Minister for the appointment of the governor.
The Nepal Rastra Bank Act itself states that a deputy governor should also be present when recommending the appointment of a governor. “When I joined the National Bank, it was not such a big dream. It was also connected to my livelihood in addition to serving the country through this prestigious institution,” she said. “If we look at the hard work and contributions I have made to the bank during this journey of nearly three decades, and the responsibilities I have successfully and actively fulfilled as Senior Deputy Governor and many times as Acting Governor, it is confirmed that I can work as a Governor.”
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्