Collective effort necessary to solve economic problems: Finance Minister Paudel

KATHMANDU: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that a collective effort is necessary to find solutions to problems that have surfaced in the global economy. While addressing the 'Finance Ministers' Session' under the 'Voice of South Summit' through virtual means, Minister Paudel said that after Covid 19 pandemic subsided, there are signs of global economic recession and it is the right time to take a collective initiative to deal with it. Minister Paudel mentioned that human development and economic growth go hand in hand and added, 'Nepal is on the way to be upgraded from a least developed country by 2026. We are focused on advancing the agenda of a prosperous Nepal, happy Nepali For economic transformation, Nepal has given priority to sectors such as infrastructure, education, health services and social security and to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the period from 2016 to 2030 and mentioned that there is an annual financial shortfall of Rs 585 billion. Considering 2019 as the base year, it accounts for 12.8% of the GDP. The Finance Minister said the financial shortage may increase as this is an estimate before the Covid 19 pandemic. He opined that various forms of financial resources should be combined to make a  useful tool. He mentioned that Nepal maintained cooperative relations with bilateral and multilateral development partners and expressed his gratitude for the support in implementing Nepal's development plans and programmes. He thanked the Government of India for its continuous support in the economic and social development of Nepal. The finance minister apprised the session of Nepal’s ongoing work to expand access to financial services and informed that programmes have been implemented to encourage the use of electronic financial services. He also said that Nepal is preparing National Financial Inclusion Strategy. On the occasion, he expressed the opinion that India has achieved great success in financial inclusion and digitalisation and is willing to learn from India's success story and implement it in the context of Nepal. The finance ministers of 15 countries including Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Colombia participated in the summit.