Kathmandu, November 8
Citing a decline in the available amount of foreign exchanges, the central bank of Nepal, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), wants to reduce imports in the country. However, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies are not impressed.
Officials in both ministries say the central bank’s decision was made without thinking about its impact on the national economy.
The Ministry of Finance has objected to the efforts despite maintaining it has not finalised its official opinion about the issue.
The Ministry of Commerce, on the other hand, has criticised the efforts saying the central bank wants to push the regular trade into a licensed and quota system.
“This is unnecessary publicity, but we don’t want to stop imports,” an official of the ministry says, “We will solve the issue after identifying the shortcomings.”
Meanwhile, the ministry officials also complain the NRB did not discuss with it before deciding a ceiling on the dollar value of a letter of credit, saying it would directly affect import and supply systems.
