KATHMANDU, Sept 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has underscored the need for banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector.

At the 49th anniversary of Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund (DCGF) on Tuesday, Minister Sharma said that the industrial and productive sectors should not be jeopardized for the lack of investment. 

Stating that the economic development of the country would not be possible without the development of the industrial and manufacturing sector, Sharma called for a system wherein investment in projects are considered by keeping the project itself as a collateral. 

The minister argued that the country would not be economically strong unless the rural economy was developed. He opined that the stakeholders should pay attention to whether the loans issued by the BFIs for the agriculture sector were being invested in real estate. "The BFIs should invest in the manufacturing sector. Loans should be provided to industrial and manufacturing sectors at two percent lesser interest."

He said there was no alternative to increasing production to substitute imports and called for more investment to boost domestic production. 

Similarly, governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari commented that although it had been a long time since the DCGF came into being, it could not devise effective policies, programs and plans. 

Urging the concerned ones to pay attention to this aspect, Governor Adhikari requested the DCGF to deliver effectively by devising long-term plans and to function within the jurisdiction of the DCGF Act. "The DCGF should not only collect money. It should consider investing in other sectors as well."

Likewise, Revenue Secretary Rameshwor Dangal, also the chairperson of the DCGF, pledged utmost efforts on his part to make the Fund more effective.

The DCGF, as a deposit insurer, started the deposit guarantee scheme in Nepal in 2010. 

 
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