Kathmandu. Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has said that the Board of Directors of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) needs seven members to make it inclusive.

He said this during clause-wise discussion on the bill designed to amend the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS in the meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives.

Stating that the NRB should not be made the subject of unnecessary manipulation or interference, he said that negative results could come if the NRB tried to manipulate too much. He said that a new Act was formulated only in 2058 BS after the Act of 2012.

Finance Minister Wagle claimed that the Finance Secretary should mandatorily be in the Board of Directors as there would not be a clear provision to give directives to the NRB after the removal of Article 106 from the bill. He said the presence of the Finance Secretary was necessary as the fiscal and monetary policy are interrelated issues.

He also said that there is no need for three deputy governors as there are 18 executive directors in the central bank.

Although it was argued that the work of the governor could be effectively reviewed and cross-checked if the qualifications of the governor were made mandatory for the directors, he suggested not to tighten the qualifications of the directors.