Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that discussions have been started for controlling the rising interest rate of the banks.
The Finance Minister made these remarks after the businessmen started complaining about it while addressing the 55th establishment day of the Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday.
He said that he was taking initiative to fix the interest rate as per the demand of the entrepreneurs.
‘Banks have a tendency to fix interest rates on their own. I have started discussions to convince the banks to fix business-friendly interest rate without affecting the economy,” he said.
“I have also told Nepal Rastra Bank not to keep the base rate of the productive sector credit above 2 per cent.”
He assured that the problem would be resolved soon by holding further discussions with the representatives of banks and financial institutions.
Finance Minister Sharma said that the country’s balance of payment has reached a critical stage due to the rising price in the international market, but added the position of balance of payment is gradually improving now.
“We are also moving towards resolving the liquidity problem as well,” he said.
He said that the total import has started declining after the enforcement of margin on the import of 47 items and this would help improve the economy.
Shekhar Golchha, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said that he had never seen the economic problem like now during the three decades of his business career.
He said, “Currently, the liquidity problem in the country is increasing seriously. If this is not addressed, it will add another big challenge to the economy which will affect not only the businessmen but also the lives of all Nepalis. It is important to pay attention to resolve this.”
President of the Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry Manoj Bahadur Nyachhyon said that the government could support the entire economy of the country by emphasising export of many commodities.
He said that the government and businessmen should pay attention to revive the COVID-19-affected economy.
Source : TRN,
