Nepal's economy not in crisis: CNI

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr 20 : The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) claimed that the country’s economy is not in crisis.

Making a statement about the present economic situation at a press conference on Tuesday, the CNI said that none of the indicators hinted at the crisis.

President of CNI Vishnu Agrawal said the Nepali economy has not been in a crisis situation and stressed on the need to carry out the works related to the economy with caution.

There is no need to panic over the economic indicators, he said and urged not to spread the negative messages among the people citing that the country was in crisis.

He, however, said that there were some problems in the Nepalese economy due to the decline in foreign currency reserves and the growing balance of payments deficit.

"Our economy is not in trouble," Agrawal said. But, the government and other concerned bodies should adopt any decision regarding the economy with restraint and not create panic in the market.”

Vice-president of CNI Anuj Agrawal also claimed that Nepal's economy would not slide to the level of Sri Lanka.

"There are unnecessary rumors that Nepal's economy is going to be like Sri Lanka's," Agrawal said. "So, we don't need to worry."

He said that there was no crisis in the economy as inflation was not excessive in Nepal, unemployment was not seen at once, demand was increasing in the market and social problems were not seen. "Nepal Rastra Bank has taken various steps after problems started appearing in our economy. We still have to take various steps. We have also appealed to the government for that,” he said.

He, however, said that the verbal direction of NRB to stop opening LC has created problems in the market and it would discourage foreign direct investment, reduce government remittance and promote illegal trade.

The Confederation has stated that stopping the import of any commodity is not a solution to the problem. It has suggested to pay attention to import management instated of stoppage.

Agrawal suggested that foreign nationals should be allowed to buy apartments in Nepal, and foreign nationals seeking to invest in Nepali companies should be allowed to invest, NRNs should be allowed to invest in IPOs, and facilitation should be made to bring remittances through formal channels.

The CNI expressed its hope that foreign currency reserves will gradually increase as the flow of foreign tourists has been increasing, imports declining and remittance inflows improving due to increase in the number of migrant workers.