April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy. The CNI delegation met Minister Mahat and discussed pressing issues of economy on Sunday.    
Minister Mahat was also handed over a 10-point memorandum on how the economy could be normalized.    
CNI President Vishnu Kumar Agrawal stressed the need for reducing interest rate, normalizing liquidity and encouraging investment for immediate improvement of economy. "These three issues must be prioritized at present. High morale is required to revive economic activities," Agrawal stressed.    
Moreover, he argued that the cash reserve ratio (CRR) needs to be reduced to three percent so as to decrease interest rate and manage liquidity and the bank rate also needs to be lowered.    
In the memorandum, the CNI further suggested the government to fix the interest gap of fixed and savings accounts at five percent maximum.    
In response, Finance Minister Mahat said that the government was in need of assistance from the private sector to resolve the problems related to the economy.
"The government is ready to identify the problems and find solution. For this, cooperation from the private sector is a must," Minister Mahat said. -- RSS