Absence of parliament leaves micro-finance policies in limbo, says NRB governor
NEPAL Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Yubaraj Khatiwada said on Tuesday that many policies related to micro-finance have remained stranded as proposed Micro-Finance Act could not be endorsed in the absence of the parliament. The central bank had sent a draft of Micro-Finance Act to the government that would create a separate regulatory body to regulate micro-finance companies and cooperatives. The draft of Act had envisioned bringing the cooperatives having certain amount of the transactions volume under a new regulator. “As the policies related to micro-finance have remained stranded, there is little I can assure about the central bank’s policy on micro-finance,” said the governor, while speaking at the 15th annual general meeting of Srijana Community Development Centre in Choharba, Siraha. In the absence of the parliament, the proposed new Bank and Financial Institution Act (BAFIA) also could not be endorsed. The BAFIA was under discussion at different committees of the dissolved parliament. Governor Khatiwada also informed that the central bank has already made arrangement for keeping exchange counters at bank offices to address the shortage of Indian currency notes. People in Tarai are having difficulty getting IC and they have been forced to purchase IC at higher price than actual exchange rate fixed by the NRB. He said that the country’s economy could not strengthen until domestic productions are used increasingly by the Nepalis. “We have developed the habit of using foreign products and we also make noise that our economy is poor,” he argued, urging for developing the habit of using domestic products even if they are expensive a bit. The NRB chief also stressed the need for bringing poor people of Terai to national mainstream by addressing their problems related to education and health. “Non government organisations should work towards that purpose,” he added. The central bank had sent a draft of Micro-Finance Act to the government that would create a separate regulatory body to regulate micro-finance companies and cooperatives
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