Businessmen in Pokhara take to the street against ‘excesses’ of financial institutions

POKHARA, Feb 23: Businessmen in Pokhara demonstrated against what they called “the excesses of banks and financial institutions”.

Industrialists and businessmen of Pokhara demonstrated at Chipledhunga in Pokhara against the arbitrarily increasing bank interest rates by banks and financial institutions and the pressure on them to pay loans and installments.

The program organized jointly by the Pokhara Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Lekhnath Chambers of Commerce and Industry was attended by industrialists and businessmen belonging to both associations. The unions, which had previously staged two-stage protests, staged a one-hour demonstration on Thursday from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM under the third stage of their agitation.

Earlier, the associations had submitted a memorandum to the minister of finance and the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) in the first phase, while in the second phase, the district associations under the leadership of the provincial trade associations submitted a warning letter to the NRB, said Pawan Kumar Prajapati, president of the Pokhara Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

In Thursday's demonstration, there was institutional participation of associations and institutions belonging to the association. Pokhara Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Lekhnath Chambers of Commerce and Industry along with Wholesalers Association Kaski, Gandaki Taxi Business Public Limited, Computer Association Nepal Federation Kaski, Federation of Nepal Books and Stationery Business, Nepal Association of Tours and Travels Agents Gandaki, Restaurant and Bar Association Pokhara and others participated in the demonstration. There was institutional participation of industrial and commercial organizations.

They demonstrated with banners and placards with slogans such as 'people struggling to make a living are dying, government’s revenue is decreasing'. The participants said ‘Interest rate is high, it is difficult to survive’, 'Solve liquidity problem', 'Economy cannot survive without industry and trade', 'Keep interest rate at single digit', 'Let's save industrial trade’, ‘save national economy', 'Abolish high service charges' etc.

Speaking at the demonstration program, the president of Pokhara Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Pawan Kumar Prajapati, announced that interest rates will not be paid as per the arbitrary increments by the banks and financial institutions. He said that the government should formulate effective policies and rules regarding increases in the interest rate. He said, “We are ready to pay the allocated interests but we will not pay the interest that is increased arbitrarily.” He urged, “The interest rate should be reduced to one digit. Otherwise, we will make the movement more powerful.”