Finance Minister Mahat calls for govt, private sector to come together to resolve economic issues

Kathmandu, April 17 : Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has stressed the need for the government and the private sector to work hand in hand to resolve problems surfaced in the country’s economy. The government was ready to cooperate with the private sector for economic improvements, he said at an event organised to provide congratulations and wishes to the newly elected office bearers of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) here today. “Traders and industrialists are currently facing difficult times and pressure. But, we have reached the situation wherein anything cannot be done to deal with the condition. There are some difficulties and hurdles. The government and the private sector should come together to resolve them,” he said. He stressed the need for those well aware about the country’s economic condition to take initiatives to solve the matter. He was stating that the new FNCCI leadership has got bankers as its office bearers. “We must help each other to cut through the current difficulties.” Minister Mahat viewed that the government has not been able to work in a way it should have. “The politicians to the administrators accept the present situation. I am ready to acknowledge it. We need to bring about reforms in all aspects. There is a challenge ahead to increase the country’s efficiency,” he said, adding, “We have said many things through the policies, but have not been able to put them into practice.” According to the Finance Minister, the problem was because of the lack of synchrony between politics and economic accountability. “We should take the liability invited by the growing general expenditure in synchrony with the identification of economic resources and their mobilization from the political sphere,” he suggested. He also said he has held formal and informal discussions with the Nepal Rastra Bank’s leadership regarding economic revival and measures to be taken to that end. Finance Minister Mahat called on the private sector to also share about its reality and that the government was ready to address the problems through the monetary policy. Saying problems have been seen in the economy due to the increase in the interest rate, he opined that the adjustment made by the Bankers Association in the interest rates has to some extent helped in the economic reforms.