Minister Sharma urges BFIs to consider investment in productive sector

Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma emphasized that banks and financial institutions (BFIs) should increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector.

At the 49th anniversary of Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund (DCGF) here today, Minister Sharma viewed that those sectors should not be jeopardized in industrial and productive sector for lack of investment.

Stating that economic development of the country would not be possible without development of industrial and manufacturing sector, Sharma called for a system wherein investment in projects are considered by keeping the project itself as a collateral.

The Minister argued that country could not become economically strong unless rural economy is developed. He viewed that stakeholders should pay attention whether the loans given by the BFIs for agriculture sector were being invested in real estate. "BFIs should invest in manufacturing sector. Loans should be provided to industrial and manufacturing sectors at two per cent lesser interest."

According to him, there was no alternative to increasing production to substitute imports and called for more investment to boost domestic production.

Similarly, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari commented that although it had been a long time since the DCGF came into being, it could not devise effective policies, programmes and plans.

Urging the concerned ones to pay attention to this aspect, Governor Adhikari requested the DCGF to deliver effectively devising long-term plans and to function within the jurisdiction of the DCGF's Act. "The DCGF should not only collect money. Consider investing in other sectors as well."

Likewise, Revenue Secretary Rameshwor Dangal, also Chairperson of the DCGF, pledged utmost efforts on his part to make the Fund more effective.

The DCGF, as a deposit insurer, started the deposit guarantee scheme in Nepal since 2010.