Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year can be achieved only 7 per cent. Finance Minister Sharma said, "There would be no such problem now and the target of 7 percent would be met, even though other sectors are having a hard time meeting the target due to various problems."
Speaking at a meeting of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday, Finance Minister Sharma said that 'climate change' has posed many challenges. Stating that billions of rupees have been lost due to unseasonal rainfall, he said that despite these challenges, the target of economic growth would be met.
Stating that there is only Rs 16 billion worth of investment (liquidity) in the banking sector now, he said that there is a liquidity problem. He said that the problem has not been resolved even though Nepal Rastra Bank(NRB) has provided liquidity of Rs 2.386 trillion in the current fiscal year alone. He added how lack of capital expenditure was also a weakness however; overall government spending was 2 percent higher than last year.
After the change of government, Finance Minister Sharma had brought a new budget through the replacement bill. He said that there was some delay in spending due to delay in the process of bringing replacement budget and policy process. But now the finance minister claims that capital expenditure will be accelerated. "There has been some delay in policy processes, including the passage of the replacement bill. There will be no delay now and capital expenditure is accelerating," Sharma said.
He said that the NRB has made arrangements for non-resident Nepalis to open savings accounts in dollars, which will have a positive impact on the country's economy.
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