Deals on digital payments with China and Sri-Lanka on the anvil

KATHMANDU, JULY 10: Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Maha Prasad Adhikari, has said that agreements with China and Sri- Lanka on digital payments have reached the final stage.

At an interaction on the upcoming year's monetary policy organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) yesterday, the Governor mentioned that agreements are expected soon with China's Ali Pay and Sri Lanka's Lanka Pay for digital payment transactions. Adhikari stated that the volume of transactions with India has increased since the inception of cross-border digital payments.

On this occasion, Governor Adhikari said that talks with officials of the Indian Reserve Bank are ongoing to open transactions of Indian notes in denominations of 500 and 1,000. He promised that an objective analysis of facts, statistics, and practices would be carried out while unveiling the monetary policy for the coming fiscal year.

FNCCI President Chandra Prasad Dhakal urged the Governor to introduce a monetary policy that would encourage industries to increase their production capacity and boost market demand, adding that loan expansion is not exciting despite sufficient liquidity in the banks and financial institutions. Dhakal also suggested that provisions should be introduced in the monetary policy to implement the announced reduction in interest rates for the industrial sector.

"Industries' capacity to repay loans has reduced due to the shrink in demand. This should be addressed. Our demand is to introduce a monetary policy that encourages investment," the FNCCI President said.