MoF in for some shake-up

KATHMANDU, Jan 1: The government will dissolve Revenue Advisory Committee (RAC) and form a new division in its place to exclusively deal with the country´s financial system in a bid to raise the effectiveness of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in analyzing and dealing with economic and financial issues.



The change in the organizational structure of MoF is being carried out after the Cabinet recently endorsed its restructuring plan. [break]



"Now activities carried out by RAC will be handled by Economic Affairs and Policy Analysis Division (EAPAD). Matters of financial and capital market, which were so far looked after by EAPAD, will soon be handled by the new division," said Spokesperson and Chief of Monitoring and Evaluation Division of MoF, Rajan Khanal.



EAPAD, assigned to monitor and suggest inputs for better macroeconomic policy and management, is reportedly having too much of workload. "It was required to deal with a number of diverse issues and in the process it was failing to give due attention to crucial sectors of economy like financial and capital markets," said another MoF official.



Sources said the changes are mainly because MoF realizes that the current turmoil in the financial sector and the capital market is due to its failure to take stock of those sectors and give precise policy inputs in a timely manner.



"We ignored them for long, but cannot afford to do so any more. The new structure reflects changes in our priorities," said the source. Even after the change, officials said the number of divisions at MoF will remain 9. However, it will get additional 31 staff, including 14 under-secretaries, to deepen its supervision and sharpen policy input capacity.



As of now, MoF has 117 vacancies and they do not include vacancies of different departments. "We will fulfill the vacancies soon," said the source.



Officials handling the MoF administration said they are already facing problems to allocate work space for the existing 117 staff members and cannot accommodate any more staff.



"Logistically, existing space at MoF can accommodate only around 100 staff. Still, we have managed to provide space to 117 staff members by improvising the layout. Adjusting additional 31 staff members, however, will be impossible," said the source.



Given the situation, the ministry is preparing to construct a separate building to accommodate at least one of its divisions there.

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