The decision to hold the annual symposium in Nepal was taken when top central bank officials of the region met in Washington DC earlier this week, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said.[break]
NRB Governor Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada attended the meeting of SAARC governors held on the sideline of the annual meetings of the World Bank (WB) Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) from September 23 to 25.
During the annual meetings, Nepali delegation headed by Finance Minister Barshaman Pun met with the senior WB officials and requested them to reinstate full-fledged operations of the WB in Nepal led by an independent country director. WB had assigned Bangladesh-based country director to oversee Nepal operations as well. Nepali officials also sought the WB´s support for financial stability in the country.
The Nepali delegation also discussed possible areas in which it might seek technical assistance from IMF when Dr Khatiwada and Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota met with the officials of Fiscal Affairs Department of IMF. They also reviewed the assistance provided by the IMF so far during a meeting with Chief of IMF Asia-Pacific Department Anoop Singh.
During the meeting, the two sides also discussed extended credit facility (ECF) that Nepal has requested for to bolster macro-economic stability and schedule of its implementation. They also held talks on problems seen in Nepal´s financial sector and measures that NRB has worked out to deal with them.
While Chairing a program on Tackling the Crisis and Building Institutions for the Future, Dr Khatiwada stressed for strong regulatory framework and supervisory norms to prevent financial crisis. He even asked the developed countries not to ignore the needs of developing countries while focusing on the financial crisis in the US and Europe.
Among others, Nepali delegation also met with the officials of US Treasury Department and discussed Nepal´s fiscal challenges.
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