The Monetary Policy for the current fiscal year 2022/23 has been unveiled aiming at keeping external sector stability by controlling inflation. The monetary policy has focused on promoting overall fiscal stability and boosting productivity by mobilizing fiscal instruments to productive sector.
Unveiling the policy, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said the policy has cautiously brought tight measures in a way to support government’s target of achieving higher economic growth. As shared, the policy has placed emphasis on mobilizing loan in productive sector rather than expanding credit in the context of high credit-GDP ratio.
Likewise, the policy has laid focus on gradually reducing facilities and regulatory arrangements provided during the COVID-19 pandemic and formulating wise regulatory standards. Re-financing facility would be subject to revision so as to limit the facility to the most-affected sectors including productive sectors and export and the areas which are yet to be recovered from the effects of pandemic.
The Monetary Policy 2022/23 has put emphasis on enhancing access to credit for small, cottage, micro and medium-scale enterprises and gradually slashing loan centralization. Similarly, the policy will keep differences at interest rates of loan to be mobilized in definite productive sector and business sector. As robust fiscal system enhances effectiveness of the outreach of monetary policy, it has laid emphasis on maintaining financial stability through overall self-regulation and reforms in credit quality.
The policy has also set a target to expand the scope of monetary policy by enhancing financial literacy, financial access and financial inclusion as well as digitalizing payments and financial transactions. Merger and acquisition facility expanded up to next mid-January The policy has extended timeline for the merger and acquisition of banks and financial institutions. Governor Adhikari shared that the banks and financial institutions adopting merger and acquisition up to next mid-January would be provided with the facilities for this.
Earlier, the NRB had given the merger and acquisition facility deadline up to mid-July. Likewise, there would be no halt of transactions of the banks and financial institutions while going for merger and acquisition. Earlier this arrangement was in place. With the new policy shift, the merger and acquisition would be as per the regulation of the Securities Board of Nepal.
