Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has urged the government to improve the business climate, arguing that the government’s policy of controlling and viewing the private sector with suspicion could have a serious impact on the country’s economy.
A meeting of the Central Working Committee presided over by party President Gagan Kumar Thapa on Sunday decided that the private sector was the backbone of Nepal’s economy.
The private sector contributes 81.5
5 per cent to the GDP, 76.9 per cent in capital formation, over 80 per cent in revenue and around 86 per cent in employment. The Congress claims that about 55 lakh citizens are self-reliant in the private sector and more than 45 lakh jobs have been created by small, cottage and medium enterprises alone.
The NC has accused the government of becoming controll-oriented towards the private sector of late, although it had pledged to support the positive steps to be taken by the government for the improvement of the economy after the formation of the government. Issuing a press release today, Nepali Congress Spokesperson Devraj Chalise said, “The country’s prosperity is not possible by discouraging and frightening the private sector.
The government should adopt a policy of protection, encouragement and facilitation, leaving the perspective of controlling and suspicing the private sector. “
The Nepali Congress has objected to the proposal to increase such provisions to 31 in the new company law, saying there are nine provisions in the existing law that can keep the private sector in jail.
The Congress has demanded immediate decriminalization of commercial and corporate laws.
“Good governance should be maintained through clear rules, transparent process, monetary penalties and just legal hearings, not through unnecessary imprisonment,” he said.
The Congress has also accused the government of failing to control illegal import and smuggling in the border area.
They have demanded that the government stop causing unnecessary trouble to the common people and small traders in the border areas in the name of controlling revenue leakage.
The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has demanded the government to bring a special relief package for the manufacturing and labour-intensive industries including shoes, dairy and clothes, saying the domestic industries that import raw materials legally by paying customs duty are facing unhealthy competition due to illegal import. Likewise, the Nepali Congress has urged the government and Nepal Rastra Bank to bring investment-friendly policy, saying the credit flow to the private sector has not increased as expected.
Although the central bank has set a target of expanding credit to the private sector by 11.5 percent, the real growth is limited to 5 to 5.8 percent.
The Nepali Congress has concluded that the demand for loans has not increased despite the huge amount of liquidity in the banking system, which is a sign of weak confidence in the government’s policies and investment environment.
The main opposition Nepali Congress has also demanded easy access of loans to the manufacturing sector, infrastructure and small and medium enterprises.
The Nepali Congress (NC) has questioned the government’s financial management, saying the commitment of foreign direct investment (FDI) has decreased and capital budget expenditure is also weak. They have also demanded justifiable adjustment of price hike in the construction sector, review of scrapped infrastructure contracts and immediate payment of dues to contractors.
The average bad loans of commercial banks have crossed 5.60 percent, microfinance bad loans have crossed 11.32 percent and non-banking assets of more than Rs 55 billion are signs of serious state of economy. Meanwhile, on the occasion of International Youth Day, Nepali Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa has announced a ‘seed’ campaign for youths. The Nepali Congress (
NC) has launched the seed campaign with the objective of identifying the potential of the youths and connecting them with skills, opportunities, entrepreneurship and self-reliance.
A total of 28 people expressed their views in the meeting of the Central Working Committee (CWC) today.
The meeting will be held again at 12:30 pm on August 12, 2083 at the party’s central office.
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