सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. The government’s Finance Ministry, which represents about 2/3 of the public opinion, is being led by Bishnu Prasad Poudel. Singha Durbar Editor-in-Chief Narayan Poudel asked the crooked Finance Minister Poudel in the Bank and Enterprise program: The economy has become an ocean. After the country entered the stage of a federal democratic republic, it has received about half a dozen opportunities to churn this ocean. The country’s economy is in a deficit of about 85 billion in government finances. The amount entering the country has arrived through remittances of about 16/##17 trillion. Where should banks invest ##? ## You were just entering from the outside. Some teams were coming to meet you saying that we should be paid for the work we did. How to move forward in this environment ?
Our economy has been under pressure for some time. Its impact has affected not only the Ministry of Finance but also all sectors. And we are making efforts to identify and solve the problems of the economy and bring the economy back to normal. The results of the efforts are gradually coming. Overall, some aspects of our economy are very positive now. The stock of foreign currency is good. It is in a position to purchase goods and services for 13, 14 months.
The balance and payment situation is favorable. Bank interest rates are decreasing. Bank liquidity is in a comfortable position. Remittances are increasing. Inflation and price increases are within control. There are some indicators that are giving us a basis to move forward. We have entered the long-awaited and pending agenda and have almost reached the point of completing that work and exiting.
The country rating work has just been completed. We are graduating NDC in 2026. We are reaching a position to take our economy from one state to another. These are such favorable conditions. I do not want to hide the problems of the economy. I do not believe in the belief that anything will happen by hiding or covering up the problems.
The problem is to be put on the table. The cause is to be found by analyzing. The solution is to move forward. I believe in that. Today, the overall path is narrowing. Its impact is on domestic production. Production is decreasing. Its impact is on imports and exports.
Both imports and exports are decreasing. Its impact is on employment. A situation of job cuts is being created. Its impact is on revenue. Overall, more challenges have emerged in government financial management. There are such problems. We are taking some serious steps keeping such problems in mind.
First, we have formed a high-level economic reform suggestion commission under the leadership of Rameshwor Khanal, with the aim of investigating the problem and finding solutions to the problems in the economic sector, which is a group of renowned economists, in the immediate, medium and long term. That commission will analyze and observe the problems and present a periodic final report. Now the government and the private sector, which bear 80 percent of the burden of the economy.
How to increase the morale of that private sector, how to encourage the private sector, how to increase investment? How to create employment? How to increase the work force of the people? Demand will not increase until it increases. How to raise the standard of living of the people? We are discussing such things with a focus. From time to time, we have a regulatory body, the National Bank, through the decision of the Council of Ministers, and through monetary policy, we are trying to study the problems of the economy.
The entire society stands up after seeing you. Vishnu Poudel has come. Let’s not call it a magic wand. We expect that some new things will come in the same style and we will be fully motivated and invest. You have celebrated your honeymoon. 100 days have passed. In the meantime, there is a bit of confusion in that ‘##way’##. The number of people who say that is also increasing, right? ##
I believe in democracy. I respect everyone’s criticism. The government is not confused. The government is working with a clear mission, vision, and approach. What is the question? The question is as serious and complex as it is. The same time is needed for the solution. There is an expectation of a quick solution. But some problems take a certain amount of time. That is why the government is not confused and will not remain so.
Now we have made considerable efforts to solve the problems of the private sector. They have taken loans for some projects, businesses, industries. Some are also unable to pay the principal and interest of the loans. There is a situation where taxes are not being paid on time. There is a problem in renewing businesses. We are looking for solutions by entering into these problems. We will not let the hope of the private sector die. And we will move forward by creating a favorable environment for every sector of production to engage in their economic activities with enthusiasm.
Through the budget, they projected an economic growth rate of 5.5 percent. It has been said that we will keep inflation below that. Talking about credit growth, banks are now burdened with excess liquidity. Their returns have fallen below almost 11 percent. Where to invest money? :::##:##. In such a situation, the government should do something to speed up the loan disbursement. Let the payments be made. Construction business, ##Laborers get paid and paid. They expect all these activities of ours to go ahead and the entire economy to be operational through banks.
## The expectation of the private sector after we came was that interest rates would become expensive. The serious demand was that interest rates should be reduced. Everyone who came to meet me would say this. Interest rates have become expensive. They had to come down to single digits. Now that demand has been met. But why hasn’t the expected investment happened? Businessmen are excited about the fact that interest rates have come down.
But it has taken them some time to solve and manage that accumulated problem and increase investment by taking advantage of the favorable interest rate situation. We have not done everything for various production concerns. Some conclusions have been drawn. Gradually, an environment is being created for the private sector to invest. They are working in that manner.
Still, business people are eager to earn money. It is their first religion. They were saying that they wanted low interest rates. Interest rates have come down to this low level. Once again, they are in a dilemma that the ground is not ready. We do not know how long it will take for our structure to change, our state system. The mentality of why we are throwing stones now has also led to doubts that it has reached this point. Tax rates are changing immediately. Now we have seen the dedicated truck line.
Tax rates are subject to change. Those who change tax rates must act responsibly towards society and the nation. Constitutional legal provisions can be used in changing tax rates. But it must be justified. Decision-makers must be able to establish justification. What have we done regarding tax rates? What should we do? What will we do tomorrow? That timeline runs. Another thing is that you are talking about the government changing. What will happen? What will happen? Nothing will happen.
There has been an attempt to create some confusion. There has been an attempt to create confusion in the civil and private sectors, to create confusion in various sectors of production. Nothing is happening. This is the most dangerous government in this parliament. There is a situation where parties with a history of more than 70 years, who have contributed the most to politics, who have been at the forefront of leading for a democratic republic, who have contributed to the formation of the constitution, who have a wide base of people, and who have the work of experienced leaders have formed a government. This government represents two-thirds of the psychology. There are no two opinions in it.
Attempts to build their future by acting against the establishment are revealed. I do not even consider it an injustice. But I do not think that there is confusion among the Nepali people. This government, this fellow traveler will complete its due course. And this fellow traveler will complete the 2084 elections. Despite attempts to create confusion on the question of stability, the public has not believed that attempt.
We say that banks are the backbone of the economy. The Bafia amendment process has progressed. A 1 percent cap has been imposed there. It is said that businessmen who invest up to 1 percent have to do business or choose only banks. That is why we got married. Children have covered the mountains. Marriage has become illegal. A kind of voice is being raised that will lead us to say. How are we taking this course forward ?
We are in the esteemed committee of the esteemed parliament, which we also call the mini parliament. I do not want to express my opinion on the matter under consideration on television. I will go to the committee. I will express my opinion there.
I am in favor of not influencing the situation by expressing my opinion here. In the context of Bafia, the Finance Committee in the parliament is seriously discussing this issue. The Finance Committee is trying to reach a common conclusion through discussion by inviting all stakeholders and listening to arguments. We will also keep the matter of the ministry local. We will move forward from that.
Some concerns of multinational aid agencies and the World Bank have come up in connection with the autonomy of the National Bank. There is also the issue of getting the big 10 banks audited by an international firm. Whether that is also somewhat related to sovereignty is unclear. Autonomy of the National Bank, How are you looking at the issue of audit and audit? ?
The National Bank is an autonomous institution. There is no doubt about that. It exercises the rights granted by law. It plays a role in the formulation of monetary policy. Who has debated here about the autonomy of the National Bank? There is no dispute about it. The National Bank is also the Nepal Rastra Bank. The Nepal Rastra Bank is in the Constitution of Nepal.
Like other organs of the state. There is also a relationship between autonomous institutions between one organ and another. There should be a relationship while preserving the autonomy of that institution. Which institution suggested what? I don’t think that issue should be a subject of discussion between us now. Different people can give different suggestions. We will move forward by keeping in mind our laws and regulations, emphasizing that the National Bank is an autonomous institution and making appropriate legal arrangements.
As soon as you came to the ministry as a minister, your bureaucratic structure had given you some conclusions and made them public through the media. In it, Nepal’s private sector loan production did not go to the country’s region. It did not seem to have made a reasonable contribution to GDP. It had expressed the hope that further improvements should be made, right? ?
The intention of the ministry is to focus investment on the productive sector. The intention is to create favorable conditions for that.
There are about 42 million bank accounts in Nepal. Where deposits are kept. There are only about 1.8 million loan accounts. That too, a single person had 2,,3 companies, and 2,4 loan accounts. There is a literature that says that many people have not turned to entrepreneurship. How are you looking at this time? ?
Rather than understanding it that way, it is not necessary for us all to become entrepreneurs. It is a matter of moving forward by gradually developing and increasing entrepreneurship. That requires the efforts of all organs of the state. It is necessary to lead the common people to it. We should pay attention to gradually increasing entrepreneurship. The government is also paying attention. We will move forward in the same way.
Big industries did not come to Nepal. Since that one step has lapsed, we call it an export-oriented industry. We bring a product from a third country. Then we export it to India. We say that our exports have increased. Like we were able to see palm oil. We were able to see betel nut.
There is partial truth in what you said. I do not reject this completely. When we talk about increasing production, we are talking about domestic production. Basically, when we can send products based on domestic raw materials to the international market, it is more useful. We are talking about valuation. Even if we produce something using foreign raw materials, it has to be valued.
In what quantity and percentage does it value? That is what it means. To increase production based on domestic raw materials and send such products to the international market. This is our first priority. If we value it in the appropriate amount, we can import foreign raw materials and produce and then go to the international market. But in that, we should pay attention to Nepali valuation.
There are some automobile assembly plants in Nepal. There is a reference to the three. How much value addition did the three make for the Nepali market, ##What did they give for the economy? ##There is a part called. There are some big foreign investors. There are some IT companies. There are some manufacturing units. They came here. They were also making contributions. But it seemed like the environment here was creating a different situation. Do they say what is it ?
I would like to urge you. I personally say that this kind of discussion should not be encouraged. The state should also pay attention to ensuring that such a situation does not arise. We are discouraging foreign investment. We are also discouraging the foreign investment that is taking place. They will run away or not. We have given protection to foreign investors.
We have given protection, respect, and the right to make profits. That is why foreign investors are discouraged. They are discouraged. It is not true that an environment is created in Nepal for them to return. Such propaganda should make investors say, ‘Oh..this is how it is.’ So I urge you not to go into such discussions. I worry that if you say yes, you will get there. We have so many multinational companies in Nepal. Other foreign companies are making profits.
For the past few years, you have been engaging in internal discussions that revenue collection should be done at a faster pace to match the target. In the meantime, the topic of an EV comes up. We are promoting electric vehicles on a large scale. I was watching a news report from India. They say that by 2030, we will make the price of petroleum-fueled vehicles and electric vehicles equal. They are working with a plan called
## We are promoting electric vehicles on a large scale. We hear your relevant officials saying from time to time that there has been a shortfall of 100 billion in revenue due to this. What did they generate when they lost here? How are we looking at it for the economy today? This is a theoretical question?
When imports decrease, the revenue from them also decreases. That is common knowledge.
We have to increase domestic production. We must work towards creating a situation where citizens can engage in large-scale production, earn large amounts of income, and pay large amounts of taxes. We must rise above this mentality of destroying the economy through customs duties levied at customs points. This government encourages the use of electric vehicles. It does not discourage it. Whatever kind of shortfall there is in revenue. We will find other alternative measures and make up for it. The use of electrical equipment is inappropriate. That is why we will return to petrol and diesel vehicles.
There was a kind of excitement in the stock market as soon as you became a minister. Even now, I will take steps for comprehensive reform. Sustainability of sustainable development, Let’s not use other words. We work hard for that. It was said. The market is moving at its own pace. Sometimes–##it increases. Sometimes##it decreases. That has become its natural process. The related reform work has not progressed at all ?
The reform work has actually progressed somewhat. Some are in the homework stage. Some of these things are related to policy. Some are related to modern technology. Some are related to decisions. First preparation, decision and then implementation. That is why it may have taken some time. Naturally, we advance the capital market in a sustainable and reliable manner. For that, we take it through things like necessary legal arrangements, structural reforms, and use of technology.
We are in the process of promoting this stock market in a way that prevents all kinds of unethical activities, ensures a transparent, healthy and clean system, and ensures that the investment of every citizen investing in the stock market is safe.
The government is moving forward with the facilities that it has created to build the country. In this stay, you have clarified the issues of what you are doing now and what you will do in the near future. There are still so many issues left in this discussion. Do you feel that you need to add ?
The kind of dialogue process that has been started by focusing on the problems of the banking and entrepreneurial sectors, which are the core of the economy. The series that has been started here. May you have much success. May your important contribution be received through the media for solving the problems of the banking and entrepreneurial sectors. I would like to express my best wishes for your institutional progress and progress. I would like to thank you very much for participating in such a dialogue process and giving you the opportunity to think.
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