Minister Sharma rules out economic crisis in Nepal

Kathmandu: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has clarified that the country has not faced an economic crisis as rumours spread in the market.

Unveiling the economic indicators amidst a press conference at the Finance Ministry on Monday, Finance Minister Sharma said although Nepal faced some difficulties due to the global challenges including the Covid-19 Pandemic, the country had not witnessed an economic crisis yet.

The Finance Minister said that misinformation on the issue was making the rounds with an intent to discourage traders and mislead people and viewed such acts should be stopped.

Saying the Finance Ministry has cautiously taken the latest economic situation of the county, the Finance Minister said the Council of Ministers had made various decisions to avoid further challenges in the economy.

He also claimed that the action taken against the Governor was in line with existing laws, and all the matters would be clarified once the probe committee submitted its report.

Similarly, the cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to launch probe into the Governor, the Minister informed adding that although loan expansion was more than the deposits, it had not yielded quality results for the national economy.

Urging one and all not to go by rumours about country’s flagging economy, Minister asserted that country’s economy was moving in a positive direction despite the COVID-19 crisis and ‘struggle’ between Russia and Ukraine. According to him, industries were being operated properly and the inflow of remittance was also positively increasing.

The country recorded remittance inflow amounting to over Rs 91 billion as of mid-March this year, it was shared. He claimed that the revenue collection was also exceeding the expectations.

In a bid to increase remittance inflows, Minister Sharma informed that the proposal seeking approval for setting up reserve fund for Nepali migrant workers abroad to invest, to set aside the quotas for IPO and FPO, allow the remittance companies to use wallet and reduce the cost of fuel used in the government and governmental agencies had been forwarded.

Furthermore, he shared that a proposal had been made to temporarily ban the import of expensive and luxurious vehicles and not to allow the government agencies’ vehicles to be used on public holidays.