August 8: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) has directed Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to give emphasis on the implementation of relief, subsidy and economic recovery programmes of the government by revitalizing the pandemic-battered economy through the monetary policy of the current fiscal year.    
Chairperson of the committee Krishna Prasad Dahal informed that the committee has issued a 17-point directive to the central bank including promotion of key dynamic areas of economy and attaining the goal of rapid growth.    
The committee directed the central bank to deposit the stipulated amount in the business regularization fund that was instituted to compensate the workers of small, cottage and big industries, tourism, private educational institution, transportation, film industry and media workers, and support the resumption of businesses.    
Chairperson Dahal further shared that the Committee instructed the central bank to expand business area and ceiling amount as the NRB’s subsidized interest rate of 5 percent has positively impacted the COVID-19-affected enterprises.    
The Committee asked the central bank to widen the scope and limit of subsidized loan to be provided to the micro, small and medium-scale industry and commercial farming, youth, enterprises and returnees from foreign employment.    
The Committee’s Secretary Dr Surendra Aryal said that the committee also directed the NRB to make effective the programme to provide loan up to Rs 2.5 million at one percent interest rate to motivate youth entrepreneurs in start-up business.    
The Committee also asked the NRB to focus the monetary policy in mobilizing resource for economic growth, promotion of domestic entrepreneurship and export, replacement of import and production-oriented sector.    
It instructed to make policy-level arrangements to maintain financial stability. The Committee suggested the central bank to make policy arrangement to check foreign reserve deficit and to discourage import of unnecessary luxury items.    
Similarly, the NRB has been asked to encourage merger of banks and financial institutions based on necessity, capacity and competition.    
It also drew the attention of NRB  to make various service charges provided by banks and financial institutions transparent.

Likewise, the Committee also directed to restructure and reschedule the loan given to different enterprises in the current fiscal year by analyzing COVID-19 impact on the economy.     
 It is stressed that the monetary policy should maintain broader economic stability, ensure sustainable development through rapid growth of economy, promote access to finance, ensure stability of the financial sector and development of safe, healthy and efficient payment system.    
Commercial and development banks have been asked to immediately implement the provision of ensuring subsidized loans from their branches and to create employment through the subsidized loan scheme.    
Likewise, the Committee has asked the central bank to implement the refinancing scheme by making procedures so that a large number of small enterprises could get benefit from it.    
Furthermore, the Committee stated that the government institutions should be made result-oriented and run economically through austerity measures in the present context of COVID-19.-- RSS