The economy destroyed by Bishnu Poudel and Janardan Sharma in three years is returning in normal after 10 months of Dr.Mahat, period will it be stable again?

Nabaraj Neupane

Kathmandu : There was a time, even after 9 o’clock in the night, the hustle and bustle used to be the same, most of the shops in the main squares of Kathmandu were open till 9:30 p.m. Outside the capital the main cities from Jhapa to Mahendranagar used to operate till midnight.

With the implementation of federalism the country’s economy was under pressure. The state’s balance of payments was becoming very critical. Then Finance Minister Dr.Yuvraj Khatiwada were able to make the country’s economy safe, but the subsequent Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel and Janardhan Sharma created the country’s economy instable.

The former Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel who have lacked sufficient knowledge about economics as well as the technical knowledge about concerning matters which put pressure on the country’s economy in two important ways: First is capital escalation from the country and second is influence in policy decisions due to phobia’s setting. The mentioned two things made easy to take advantage of the country’s economy due to which some limited people started a business of making money by sending money to abroad in hidden way.Bishnu Paudel, who was appointed as the Minister of Finance on 14 October, 2020 A.D (28 Ashoj, 2077 B.S.), after that within one year Nepal’s economy started to get in pressure. By the time he was released from office on 21 September 2021 A.D ( 5 Ashoj, 2078 B.S.) the economy of the country had started to deteriorate. According to the statistics of the Central Bank of Nepal, by the time Bishnu Poudel left the government, the country’s economy had deteriorated. Due to the deterioration of the payment system of the country, on 20 December 2021 (5 Paush 2078 B.S.) for the first time, the Central Bank of Nepal implemented the system of cash margin in imports.By the time it reached 9 February 2022 (26 Magh 2078 B.S.), it had to implement the cent/percent import margin policy and use balance of payments tools. Which remained till 13 months of period.

After then, Janardan Sharma, who came to take over the finance ministry, became the finance minister on 20 December 2021 (5 Paush 2078 B.S). He was also not an expert in economics. During his period, Janardhan Sharma who did not focus on the economy of Nepal but was enjoying his Goebbels-style, false propaganda and self-righteousness, due to which the economy was quadrupled and country fell into further economic crisis.The former finance minister Janardan Sharma was seen as number one than Bishnu Paudel. As Bishnu Poudel was less spoiled, the cause of being the leader of a big party, he was afraid from the criticism and comments of their experts members of party. Whereas Janardan Sharma who was selfishly ambitious in the party, and also violated many written instructions of the party chairman ‘Prachanda’ as well as he continued to exploit the economy showing arrogance, ego and small king style. Due to which the country’s economy almost was in the state of ready to sunk.

The gossip of ”Nepal becoming in a stage of Sri Lankan economy”, began to be discussed widely in every corner and the economy came to deterioration due to growing frustration among the people.

When there is depression in the country’s economy then the economic activity slows down and its impact gradually affects the revenue. The same thing happened in the case of Nepal. Janardhan Sharma also did the same act. He used to make fake speeches saying that the economy was improving day by day, but the people could not believe it. After Janardan Sharma, Bishnu Paudel became the finance minister again, but for short period of time, due to which he was unable to deteriorate economy of Nepal.

The two Finance Ministers exploited the country’s economy in such a way that there was a great disappointment among the people which can be seen at the airport even today that people are going abroad.

The situation had become dire. Some were warning that it could be like Sri Lanka or any other African country. Now, the Prime Minister, the industrialists and the finance minister are shouting to everyone that the country’s economy has improved, but no one believes them.

On 10 April 2023 A.D (27 Chaitra 2079 B.S) Dr. Prakasharan Mahat came to the position as Finance Minister and started to manage the economy that was destroyed by two non-economist leaders in the past years. During his 10-month tenure he is trying to make the peoples believe that the economy has improved. However, the economy does not take time to deteriorate but it takes more time to improve.

Minister of Finance Dr. Mahat is a technical person who understands the economy sectors, he can play result-oriented role. It was not possible in a single night to protect the economy by balancing the expensive economic burden of federalism, the imports that are larger than the country’s budget, and raise the morale of the economic crisis which has reached even in the villages.Finance Minister Dr. Mahat identified the problems of the economy since the beginning and he moved forward with policy solutions in order to solve the problems.

Just as a strong porter is needed to carry heavy loads, in the same way to strengthen the economy and make the country flourish it is necessary to strengthen many indices of the economy first. Minister of Finance who understands the economic policy has improved many parameters of the country’s economy during his 10-month tenure. The external situation has become very strong.Looking at the situation of the last five months of the current year, the foreign exchange reserves have reached the highest level of 1.7 trillion rupees so far. Inflation has dropped to 4.95 percent, while the surplus saving has reached 210 billion rupees. Now the loan mobilization has started gradually from the bank and an investment environment has started to form which has created a hope in the stock market. On the whole, the country’s economy has reached a point of hope in recent times. First of all, the main indicators of the country’s economy have become stronger, just as the porters have become stronger. Now, the possibilities of moving forward based on that have been seen. Rays of hope have begun to spread among the people. The country’s economy has reached a point where it can be re-activated and prosperous as the deposits accumulated in the banks are gradually mobilized.However, it will take at least one more year. If the current government spends 10 months to improve the economic index the next 10 months will be spent on mobilization by the Minister of Finance in technical way, the country’s economy will definitely reach a new place.

It is not only Finance Minister Dr.Mahat sole success, but Prime Minister Prachanda’s policy of not interfering in the relevant ministries, has also played a vital role due to which Minister Mahat is able to work independently. Mahat is getting Prime Minister Prachanda’s full support so that he does not come under the pressure of elements who would spoil the economy of the country. Without the firm stance of Prime Minister Prachanda to destroy the mafia setting, it would not have been possible for the Minister of Finance to become success.  Prime Minister Prachanda and Finance Minister Mahat tuning is bringing back a ray of hope to the people of Nepal in making the economy of Nepal stable.

People who know about the economy got no place to accuse of political corruption whereas regulatory agencies are still failed to stop the exploitation. Regulatory bodies like Central Bank of Nepal, Securities Board of Nepal and Insurance Authority are not working in favor of the people.

Even now, more than a dozen positions are vacant in regulatory and government service delivery sector. Many decisions have not been made on time, such as the vacancy of the chairman post in Securities board of Nepal (SEBON), the vacant post of CEO in the Rastriya Beema Sansthan, the vacant post of CEO in the Rastriya Beema Company, the vacant post of both the chairman and the CEO in the Nepal Reinsurance Company which proves that the regulatory authorities are still not in stable position. What does the Nepalese citizen get where as the traders are getting discount on the customs facility in the electrical vehical car subsides ? There are questions.

The current economy of Nepal has reached a turning point in history. A situation has arisen where the total current expenditure of the country cannot be covered by the total revenue. As a result, the state has to take more than two billion annually dept. In the past, the country’s economy is falling under the excessive pressure of interest on the loans that were made in an excessively distribution-oriented budget.In such a complex situation, it is often impossible to improve Nepal’s economy by entrusting the economy to people other than those who can learn and make overall improvement as well as have technical knowledge of the economy.