July 19: Tourism entrepreneur who are in anxiety due to the mounting losses think that the Monetary Policy for FY 2020/21 will bring some relief to the sector.

The policy has some special arrangements in working capital loans, concessional loans and refinancing scheme for the revival of aviation business, transport, hotel, restaurant and tourism sector enterprises to overcome the losses caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

The new monetary policy has extended the repayment deadline of loan installment by two years for the under-construction tourist hotel projects that have been halted due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Hoteliers say that the provision to direct development bank and financial institutions to mandatorily provide 20 percent and 15 percent loans, respectively, of their total paid-up capital to the tourism sector will provide relief for small and medium-sized hotels.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said that that the monetary policy will be crucial and positive for of reestablishment of the tourism sector businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The monetary policy has included most of the suggestions of the ministry and tourism entrepreneurs,” he said.

Stakeholders have welcomed the policy. However, they are skeptical over the implementation of the measures. “Even though the monetary policy has tried to address the demand of the overall tourism industry, its implementation is doubtful,” said Yograj Sharma Kandel, spokesperson of the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal.

 "There were some good measures in the 2015 monetary policy, which was announced after the earthquake, to help businesses in trouble. However, the measures were not implemented at all. This is likely to happen now,” he added.

Similarly, Sajan Shakya, general secretary of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) said that the measures in the policy are crucial to revive the tourism industry affected by the pandemic. “However, the implementation is important than the policy itself,” mentioned Shakya.