Governor Adhikari says country's economy is improving

Kathmandu, Sept. 12: Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Maha Prasad Adhikari, has said that the country's economy which witnessed a setback after the Gorkha earthquake and COVID-19 pandemic is recovering slowly, two years after the pandemic.     

Addressing the International Conference on Economics, Finance, and Related Themes organized here Thursday by Nepal Open University and Cardiff University, UK, the Governor said that construction, industry and trade sectors did well in two years after the earthquake and COVID-19. "The Nepal Rastra Bank has forwarded major reforms through monetary policy along with fiscal progress," the Governor said.     

"The global economic situation continues to recover slowly and unevenly from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent geopolitical tensions," he added.     

Governor Adhikari underscored the need that the interconnectedness of global markets needs policy harmonization to mitigate impacts of global shocks on economic activity.     

Along with the financial reforms, the NRB has also embarked on a journey of significant operational reforms in monetary policy and is aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission.     

"The recent policy reform has been concentrated on modernizing the monetary policy operations, enhancing credit quality, emphasizing digital banking and FinTech, developing a modern payment system and its integration into the global market, and continuing the financial consolidation measures," Governor Adhikari argued.     

He stated that Nepal's focus is on better coordination between monetary and     

Macro-prudential policies and efforts are on to chanelise credit toward productive sectors to ensure that the banking sector supports sustainable economic development and can reduce the risk of asset bubbles, according to the Governor.     

He reiterated that the external sector of Nepal's economy was in a relatively comfortable position, with the balance of payment and current account surplus, and adequate foreign exchange reserve.     

Also speaking at the event, Vice Chancellor of Nepal Open University Shilu Manandhar Bajracharya, Professor Kul Luintel of Cardiff University and other acclaimed experts shared their views on economic, fiscal and related aspects.     

The two-day conference has witnessed the participation of 60 experts from Nepal, China, the UK, Norway, Spain and other countries, where 10 working papers are said to be presented and discussed. (RSS)