Startup work procedures and project loans to be implemented soon: Finance Minister

Kathmandu / Jan 23: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said the startup work procedures and provision on project loans would be implemented soon.

Addressing the Small and Medium Enterprises Conference organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in Lalitpur on Monday, Finance Minister Poudel asserted that he would take the initiative to prepare the Startup Work Procedures pending for a long time.

“It is the government’s weakness that the startup work procedures could not be drafted until now. The work procedures would be passed immediately. The project loans, which the private sector has been demanding, will also be implemented soon,” he said.

Finance Minister Poudel urged the private sector to give clear suggestions to the government regarding the problems of the small and medium enterprises. Stating that the government would take initiative to identify problems of the small, cottage, micro and medium-scale enterprises and to resolve them, Finance Minister Poudel said a right conclusion would be derived on the matter after taking suggestions from the stakeholders concerned.

“The government moves ahead only after taking the suggestions from the related sector while drafting the plan and policy of any sector. It is necessary that the private sector points out and clarifies the policy-level ambiguities in particular sectors,” the Finance Minister Poudel said, adding that the government expects concrete and clear suggestions on how the procedural hassles could be minimized and the service delivery made prompt and convenient.

Poudel also said that he will work towards hearing the problems of the private sector and addressing the justified demands. He said that the private sector should also give suggestions as to how the access of the SMEs could be increased in the financial sector.

In addition to this, he pledged the government assurances that the interest rate for loans would not be increased. “Interest rate is linked with inflation this or that way. Efforts are on to prevent the interest rate from going high.”

He made it clear that the government had no policy to intervene in the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) affairs as it is the autonomous body, but the government would cooperate with it to address the existing issues.

He said the private sector was expected to inform the government if it sensed problems in the government service delivery.

FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha described small and middle-scale enterprises as the basis for the national economy, but these sectors were marred by various issues. “The prices of raw materials have skyrocketed. Bank interest rates are high. Small entrepreneurs face challenges to get loans,” he said.

He was of the opinion that the State should play a role to establish a stable interest rate and the systematic tax system.RSS