July 4: Hotel Association of Pokhara has urged the Nepal Rastra Bank to bring in a special relief programme to support the tourism business that has been reviving from the impact of Covid-19.

During an interaction programme held in Pokhara on Saturday by the association to provide suggestions to NRB for the new monetary policy, Lakshman Subedi, president of the association, presented written suggestions and demands on behalf of the association to Governor- Maha Prasad Adhikari.

Subedi said he was optimistic that the monetary policy would cover the issues although the budget presented in May failed to address the tourism sector's problems. He informed that 30 per cent of businesses and a large number of employees and workers related to tourism had gave up their profession because of Covid-19.

The financial situation in the hotel and tourism industry has not yet been smooth and the association has asked the NRB to make separate arrangements for payment of interest for the next two years and a waiver of fines.

Likewise, the association has also asked for additional loans for hotels without any collateral at low-interest rates.

The hotel industry has also demanded for cash back facility, he said. 

The association has also recommended that the limit on access to loans be raised from Rs 20 million to Rs 50 million and the private sector should monitor that such a loan facility is accessible to all hotels.

The association also demanded that the three per cent service fee charged by banks on credit card use should be reduced to one per cent. Likewise, they added that banks should accept Indian notes of Rs 500 and two thousand denominations along with any currency of all SAARC nations.