By Karuna Thapa
Kathmandu, April 18
Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), led a
delegation to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma Prabhakar. According to the Finance Minister’s Secretariat, the general state of the economy was discussed at the meeting at the Ministry of Finance.
Anuj Agrawal, a CNI-affiliated businessman, delivered a working paper on the country’s current economic position, concentrating on the two primary concerns of reducing the burden on foreign exchange reserves and rising the liquidity crisis, during the conference.
He stated at the beginning of the working paper that comparing Nepal’s economy to that of Sri Lanka was illogical. According to a CNI working paper delivered at the event, Nepal’s GDP is 33.65 billion dollars and Sri Lanka’s is 80.7 billion dollars.
Nepal’s actual debt was 14.56 billion dollars, whereas Sri Lanka’s was 89.5 billion dollars.
Nepal’s proportion of real debt in GDP was 43 percent, while Sri Lanka’s was 111.42 percent.
Only in the working paper was it stated. As a result of the influence on the worldwide price
chain, Nepal’s inflation reached 7.1 percent and Sri Lanka’s 25 percent.
In terms of the key economic metrics, Nepal’s economy is far stronger than Sri Lanka’s, according to Agrawal. Instead of restricting imports, CNI Chairman Bishnu Kumar Agrawal advised that tax rates have to be increased and interest rates on import loans be modified to alleviate the burden on foreign exchange reserves. He also advised that interest rates on loans for manufacturing and imports be differentiated.
Finance Minister Sharma had previously stated that Nepal could not be compared to Sri Lanka on the issue. ”Some are attempting to politicize the economy of the country. ” They’ve also created electoral difficulties,” Minister Sharma added.
