Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) has urged Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel to recognise the transaction value of imported and exported goods at the customs.
It also requested him to widen the scope of revenue by simplifying the customs process.
“When the reference price is maintained in the customs process, it has affected the revenue and encouraged illegal transactions. The government’s revenue collection has also been affected. Therefore, the government should recognise the transaction value,” President of NCC, Rajendra Malla urged newly appointed DPM and Finance Minister Paudel at a meeting with the latter Thursday afternoon.
Malla requested the DPM to stop the illegal transactions at the border crossings and organise the customs system and make it more efficient.
The delegation of the NCC led by Malla discussed the economic and financial situation of the country with the DPM and drew his attention to eight issues such as improvement in public expenditure, facilitation of customs, suspension of guidelines related to working capital loans.
Malla emphasised that a single digit interest rate should be maintained in order to achieve the government’s goal of double-digit economic growth. Since the private sector is unable to implement the guidelines related to working capital loans introduced by the Nepal Rastra Bank, it should be suspended immediately.
He also suggested that the capital budget that couldn’t be utilised by the three levels of the governments should be mobilised through the banks and financial institutions (BFIs).
In response, DPM Paudel said that he was serious about the demands raised by the NCC. “There is no alternative for the government and the private sector to move forward together for the economic prosperity and progress of the country,” he said, adding that he had started initiatives to solve all the problems seen in the economy.
Source : TRN,
