Finance Minister assures of revised interest rates to encourage investment

KATHMANDU: Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the existing bank interest rates will be revised in a bid to reform the obtaining economic scenario, making the economy vibrant. Minister Mahat said this in his response to lawmakers' concerns raised during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill (except tax proposal) for the fiscal year 2080-81 BS (2023-24) in the National Assembly (NA) today. Stating that the new budget will be coming in a special context, he pledged maximum efforts to address the economic issues to a larger extent. Thanking lawmakers for their valuable feedback on the bill, he assured of taking ownership of such submissions. Minister Mahat said the upcoming budget will focus on achieving an inclusive economic growth rate instead of targeting it to a certain class or community. According to the Minister, the government will take all possible measures to increase the size of foreign assistance. "There will be efforts for increasing capital expenditure and its efficiency from the very first day of the fiscal year," he said adding that the new budget will be based on foreign assistance, revenue collection and internal loans. He also vowed to make the expenditures effective. "The government is aware that investment at the moment is not encouraging as the cost has increased due to a high-interest rate," the Minister said, adding, "Interest rates will be minimised through a monetary policy which will positively contribute to the nation's economy and make it vibrant." Minister Mahat said the home and finance ministries will work collaboratively to discourage revenue leakage. "Country witnessed a noticeable development in the areas of health, education and infrastructure. But this is not enough. " He said the government's approach to taxation will be centred on the interest of the nation and people instead of any specific group or community and suggestions of lawmakers will be taken into account in the course of the budget formulation. "The focus will be on cutting general and unnecessary expenditures to promote austerity." The Finance Minister asserted that the government was committed to social security and had no plan of cutting budget for the social security allowance. The meeting of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament will meet again at 6:31 pm on May 17. READ ALSO:

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