Kathmandu. According to the data released by the Rastra Bank, the reserves stood at USD 17.63 billion as of Mid-March.
If it is revised into Nepali rupees, it will be Rs 2426.84 billion. The Rastra Bank invests the remaining amount in the US, Singapore and other countries, depending on the foreign currency required by the country. The Office of the Auditor General has questioned the lack of transparency in the income generated by making such investments.
According to the Office of the Auditor General, the Rastra Bank has set up an agent in the middle to invest dollars and doubts have been raised when it is invested only in a low income. The Auditor General has questioned that the income of foreign currency used by the Rastra Bank is not transparent. According to sources at the Auditor General’s Office, the rastra bank’s earnings from dollars are in shambles.
A source told Singha Durbar, “The rastra bank’s income from dollar investment has been found to be weak, due to lack of transparency, there is less income from many investments. Only a limited number of people in the Rastra Bank are aware of this. Setting up an agent in the middle and investing dollars at a low rate is the main concern. We have raised questions in the report to improve this issue. ”
Sources claim that such malpractices are the reason for the middlemen in the appointment of the Governor of the Rastra Bank. The source added, “It is seen that only a few billion rupees can be settled abroad through dollar investment, there are other issues, how many governors’ appointments have been delayed. ”
Talking to a senior chartered accountant of the nation, Singha Durbar.com said that it would be important to see from which angle the Auditor General looked at it. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the CA said, “I also audited the Rastra Bank many years ago, the Rastra Bank may have made a deal at a lower rate to keep itself safe, but the Auditor General may have looked into the matter from the upper site.” That is, according to the risk, you can get more returns. ”
According to the CA, the Rastra Bank can set up an agent to sell foreign currency other than dollars. But it doesn’t matter much.
How rastra bank invests dollars
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has formulated a procedure for investing dollars. This procedure is used only for internal purposes. According to the procedure, 60 percent of the dollars in the Rastra Bank will be allowed to be invested. In this way, investing dollars should be used only in low-risk countries. Rastra Bank has set up a separate unit to invest dollars in this way. In which employees are working 24 hours a day. According to the NRB, real-time investment is made by hiring employees in 2-3 shifts to invest dollars in this way. While investing in this way, investment is made for short-term, mid-term and long-term. Rastra Bank says that long-term investment can generate a lot of income.
Employees who invest dollars have set criteria for investment. In order to make a small dollar, the employee can decide and invest. Similarly, as the size of the investment increases, so does the status of obtaining permission. The director of the Rastra Bank, the deputy governor and the governor reach for a decision.
“Rastra Bank never sees foreign exchange as an income, its main objective is to balance the payment of goods and services imported from outside the country,” a nrb director told Singha Durbar. The reserves, which were once imported for less than six months, have now reached 17 months. According to the Rastra Bank Act, the criteria has been made to invest more dollars. The Office of the Auditor General may question the criteria, but it cannot question other issues. ”
According to the director, the criteria have asked the dollar to invest only in places where the investment is highly secured. He added, “Other countries have also done the same rating as Nepal did some time ago, in that rating, investment can be made only in countries with double A+ (AA+) rating, now we invest only in low-risk countries. ”
According to the Data of the Department of Customs, imports worth Rs 1,309.53 billion have been imported in the nine months of the current fiscal year. In this way, the average import is 145 billion rupees per month. Rastra Bank invests other dollars by accumulating dollars that can sustain the import for a minimum of seven months.
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