NAFIJ holds 13th AGM

KATHMANDU: Nepalese Association of Financial Journalists (NAFIJ) held its 13th annual general meeting (AGM) today. Addressing the AGM, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said the government was committed to resolving problems seen in the country's economy. He opined that the government did not have different views towards the private sector and added it is considered an important part of the country. The government has taken the private sector as its own part and the suggestions by the private sector will always be incorporated into the government's policy, he shared. He said the problems seen were not stemming only due to internal reasons but also due to external scenarios globally, and expressed the view that the government and private sector should move ahead together to resolve problems. He further said that newly elected people's representatives should carry out activities according to priorities to the necessity of development activities. Minister Sharma said, "Citizens have desires for development activities. It is a constitutional requirement. Increasing production and replacing imports are important in the current situation. I urge all bodies of the state to be committed to the same." On the occasion, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari opined that although the private sector was facing problems due to various reasons including a liquidity crunch, this situation will not last forever. Although liquidity in the market has eased to some extent recently, there were still some challenges taking place from mid-December, 2021 to mid-January 2022, mentioned Adhikari. He stressed the need for seriously thinking about the concerns of private sector for the state to intervene to end problems seen in the country's economy. "The private sector wants the state to directly intervene with the country's economy. But, there may be a counterproductive. Balance in one sector may get disturbed while carrying out reforms in another. So, all things cannot be corrected at once," he said. Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) Chairman Ramesh Kumar Hamal shared that the regulator was at work to additionally make the stock market effective and transparent. Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Senior Vice President Chandra Prasad Dhakal underscored the need for prioritising the issues of the economy instead of politics. "Present problems are not that being faced by private sector only. There are problems in increasing investments due to a liquidity crunch. Inflation has also affected. These problems have been affecting revenue collection," he said. Nepal Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal viewed that the government should stay away from collecting internal loans at a time when there is a liquidity crunch. "Collecting internal loans may aggravate the liquidity problem."