KATHMANDU, April 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has made it clear that Nepal's economy will not collapse like that of Sri Lanka.
Speaking at a program organized by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) in the capital on Friday, Finance Minister Sharma said that there was no truth in reports that Nepal's economy was like that of Sri Lanka. “Nepal's economy is relatively strong internally, the production and revenue systems are strong and there is no huge debt pressure on Nepal,” said Finance Minister Sharma.
"Many thanks to those who are worried about the problems in the country’s economy as such concerns and suggestions are alerting the government and other stakeholders," he said. “While some people want to make Nepal’s economy like Sri Lanka's, their dream will not come true. We won’t let that happen.”
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He said that Nepal’s economy would not be like that of Sri Lanka as there is no comparison between Nepal and Sri Lanka. "If we look at the state of our debt and production, foreign investment, loan assistance, etc, there is no comparison between Nepal and Sri Lanka. Some people are working to terrorize the people on an incomparable issue. We should all refute that together,” he said.
He appealed to those who are comparing Nepal with Sri Lanka to think positively about Nepal's economic reform. "Let's discuss our priorities, our policies, our needs, and so on, to lift our economy which is under pressure," he said.
He also said that he had informed the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) five months ago about the information that capital flight was taking place from Nepal due to cryptocurrency, hyper fund etc. However, he acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat this problem. "We are not afraid of the challenges posed by the development of technology. We need to take steps to prevent it from being misused," he said.
Stating that the economy is under pressure at the moment, he said that there is a need for improving it with the help of all sectors. He said the economy can only improve by changing the traditional way of working. He further added that there is a challenge to make the maximum use of the resources available within the country, carry out productive activities and build large infrastructures within the country to create employment and take initiatives to increase exports.
He shared that the government has started the necessary homework on the issue of providing various services to Nepalis going for foreign employment after receiving remittances from them. He said that the government has taken special initiatives to expand the tourism sector which was hit hard by COVID-19.
