KATHMANDU – Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel said that the government is committed to increasing production and job opportunities as well as increasing investment to contribute to the growth of the country’s economy, which has been marred by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
He stressed the need for a strong unity of the private sector to deal with challenges created by the virus. The minister was speaking at the 23rd anniversary and 22nd annual general meeting of the Society of Economic Journalists Nepal (SEJON). “A positive message is a great thing and an effective guideline to resolve problems.”
The foundation stone will be laid today for the construction of five to 15 hospitals at the local level across the country, a plan of the government to stem the COVID-19 crisis in the health sector, he said. For this purpose, the government has allocated a budget worth Rs 58 billion.
He said he is eager to cooperate with the newly elected leadership of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
On the occasion, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha said they have created a special strategy for a sustainable economic increment cutting through COVID-19, which will be made public in some days.
Stating that the Federation had stressed on the strategy of creating jobs for as many as 400,000 youths annually, he said that small and medium scale enterprises have been hit the hardest by COVID-19. He spoke for the need to mitigate the negative influence of COVID-19 on enterprises and pressed for reform at the policy level with exemption of custom and taxes in various sectors.
Likewise, Satish Mor, President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), opined that COVID-19 can be an opportunity for Nepal in the wake of the government enabling a favorable environment through collaboration with the private sector. He called for a collective effort to revive the economy and promote economic activities.
He also demanded an objective implementation of the subjects in the monetary policy and the annual budget for the current fiscal year.
Nepal Chambers of Commerce’s Senior Vice-President Rajendra Malla viewed that the government and private sector should be effortful to cushion the effect of COVID-19.
