July  27: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBFIN) has termed the  monetary policy for the current fiscal year to be overall positive while acknowledging that the achievement of the set goals and implementation of some of the arrangements adopted by it to be challenging. The confederation stated that the monetary policy has tightened economic activities for the improvement of the current economic situation due to which the goals set by the monetary policy will be challenging to achieve.

The confederation said that the monetary policy has adopted timely policies to maintain economic and financial stability and bring the declining economy back on track.

CBFIN has appreciated the central bank for including suggestions such as classification of loans flowing from banks and financial institutions, maintaining different interest rates for loans going to the productive sector and trade, development of the productive sector and credit flow to the productive sector, special priority to export promotion in the monetary policy. Similarly, CBFIN said that the provision of discounts on various services such as remittances brought into the country through formal channels, and the necessary amendments to the Foreign Investment and Foreign Debt Management Regulations, 2078 are highly commendable.

CBFIN expects that the existing arrangements related to remittances will be reviewed to widen the scope of remittances inflow into Nepal and bank accounts will be made mandatory for Nepalese going abroad to help improve foreign exchange reserves. Likewise, it also believes that the increase in access to credit for small, domestic, small and medium enterprises, the productive sector including agriculture, exports and the continuation of re-financing facility for the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the system where bonds can be counted as deposits, will help in the promotion of the commercial sector.