NRB Governor stresses reforms in Nepali economy at IMF conference

KATHMANDU: Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari participated in a conference titled 'South Asia's Path to Resilient Growth' organised by International Monetary Fund in New Delhi, India, on January 6, 2023. In the inaugural session of the conference, a book titled 'South Asia's Path to Resilient Growth' was also launched. On the occasion, Deputy Managing Director of IMF, Antoinette Sayeh, summarised the book. In the high-level policy panel discussion of the conference, NRB Governor Adhikari, as an expert speaker, mentioned that there has been significant progress in electronic payment transactions in Nepal after Covid 19 pandemic and opined that this has helped in enhancing transparency, good governance and preventing money laundering. He stressed the need to take the imbalance seen in world geopolitics as an opportunity to take the country to the path of sustainable economic growth through structural reforms of Nepali economy that depends on foreign exchange reserves, revenue and remittances for consumption. In the closed group meeting held in the presence of IMF Deputy Managing Director, NRB Governor praised the New Delhi-based IMF training centre's role in the capacity development of the central banks of the SAARC countries and committed to providing necessary support to the IMF to make the capacity building and technical assistance more effective. Nepali Ambassador to India, Shankar Prasad Sharma, also expressed his opinion as an expert speaker. In the inaugural session of the conference, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das spoke as a special speaker and expressed his views on the current economic challenges being faced by the SAARC countries. He stressed the need for controlling inflation, external debt risk management, productivity growth, fuel security, and emphasized the importance of coordination to make the construction of green economy the policy priority of the SAARC region. The conference was attended by senior officials of IMF and central bank governors of the SAARC countries. READ ALSO:

• IMF approves deal with Egypt for $3 billion support package
• IMF says Mideast, North Africa economies resilient in 2022
• Finance Minister Sharma leads Nepali delegation at WB Group, IMF annual meetings
• NCC holds interaction with IMF delegation