KATHMANDU, Jan 25: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said that more investment in unproductive sectors including the real estate and share market created challenges in the country's economy.

Addressing a programme organized here to mark the 59th anniversary of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) on Tuesday, the Finance Minister said now our focus should be on productive and lucrative sectors. He, however, said that the indicators of the economy have gradually become positive and the morale of the investors is also upped.

"The investment from the banks in the past was not made in the right place. Massive financing was done in share market and real estate. Those taking loans at that time are in trouble now," Dr Mahat added. The Finance Minister urged the banks and financial institutions to provide loans to the needy ones by accepting their projects as collateral instead of giving loans by evaluating home and land plots. 

Dr Mahat said that the RBB could not progress as expected for being a state-owned bank. "This is not the bank's true status. It could not emerge as the nation's no. 1 bank for being the state-owned. It did not happen due to the bank's management and officials," he argued.

Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari said that the country's economy has witnessed a good progress adding that there has been improvement in the external factor and there are no issues in the bank and financial institutions except some challenges in loan recovery.

Likewise, CEO of RBB Kiran Kumar Shrestha said the bank would become more competitive in future by investing in the priority sectors. The state-owned RBB has more than Rs 15.63 billion of issued and paid up capital until the last fiscal year. The bank's capital fund is Rs 50.74 billion and the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio is 3.77 per cent in the last fiscal year. The number of bank's depositors is 4.14 million plus. 

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