Kathmandu: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Bishnu Prasad Paudel, has highlighted that Nepal’s sovereign credit rating serves as a positive indicator of the country’s investment climate. During a meeting with development partners at the Ministry, Minister Paudel asserted that the political and policy stability achieved through the formation of a coalition government, comprising the Nepali Congress and the CPN (UML), has created a conducive environment for investment.
According to National News Agency Nepal, Minister Paudel expressed optimism that the current political stability would boost the confidence of private sector players and investors, potentially leading to an increase in foreign investment. He pointed out that since the establishment of the incumbent government, Nepal’s economic indicators have shown signs of improvement.
The Finance Minister emphasized the government’s focus on fostering infrastructure development, human resource development, and private-sector investment. He cite
d factors such as a balanced current account, growth in electricity exports, an increase in remittances, and a rise in tourist arrivals as contributors to strengthening the nation’s economy. Minister Paudel underscored the necessity of diversifying and expanding exports to enhance the external sector in the long term.
Minister Paudel also addressed the issue of public investment, acknowledging the reduced capital expenditure in recent years. He explained that the government is prioritizing efforts to enhance the quality of projects to address this concern. Assuring stakeholders, he stated that there is no need to panic over public debt, and emphasized the importance of reprioritizing loan mobilization.
The Finance Minister revealed that steps have been initiated to draft an assistance mobilization policy and a law to govern new finance mobilization in the public sector. He called for constructive suggestions from development partners and highlighted the government’s commitment to improving the public financ
e management system. Collaboration with development partners on issues like climate change mitigation and adaptation is also a priority, as the government aims to build a green economy.
Minister Paudel acknowledged challenges in maintaining public finance balance, noting that infrastructure investment is contracting due to increased expenditures on social security programs and debt payments. He stressed the need for effective resource mobilization at provincial and local levels while ensuring budget allocation for strategic projects already underway.
In his commitment to a new revenue mobilization strategy, Minister Paudel emphasized that internal efforts alone are insufficient for financial resource mobilization. He urged development partners to collaborate on achieving effective and sustainable results.
Representatives from development partner organizations, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the United Nations Development Agency, expressed their readiness to support Nepal’s econom
ic development initiatives. They commended the government for forming the High-level Economic Sector Reform Recommendation Commission and noted that the credit rating results have positively influenced foreign direct investment in Nepal.