New FM calls companies to tap private capital

KATHMANDU, June 9: Newly-appointed Finance Minsiter Gyanendra Bahdur Karki has urged the manufacturing and other real sector companies to tap into private capital for funding.



Speaking at the silver jubilee celebration function of the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon), Finance Minister Karki also called for mobilizing capital from the public to expand their businesses, projects and operations.

 

“If more companies issue their shares to the public, not only will the capital market gets expansion, it will also strengthen their corporate governance,” said Minister Karki. Also speaking at the function, Sebon Chairman Rewat Bahadur Karki said that there was still a challenge to bring the real sector companies, like manufacturing firms, in the capital market despite a raft of reform measures introduced by the capital market regulator including flexibility to float shares at a premium.

 

“We have brought in incentive package for real sector companies to encourage them to issue their shares in public and get such shares listed in secondary market for trading,” said Sebon Chairman Karki. He also said that the capital market regulator should now get operational-level autonomy. 

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Rajan Khanal, revenue secretary at the Ministry of Finance, voiced his reservations over the preparation by Sebon to bring a new stock exchange company. He said that the new stock exchange company can be added only after the existing stock exchange company becomes able enough to compete. He also said that the government was ready to divest its shares in Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) as part of privatization of the government-owned stock exchange company.