Kathmandu. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Prof. Dr. Bishwanath Poudel has said that the condition of infrastructure development in the country is weak.

At an interaction program organized by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on ‘Economic and Fiscal Situation and Monetary Policy Line’, he expressed concern over the poor condition of infrastructure development. He was of the view that policy-level and structural environment should be conducive for mobilization of foreign investment in infrastructure development.

He pointed out the need of institutional capacity enhancement for infrastructure expansion.

NRB Spokesperson and Executive Director of Human Resource Management Department, Guru Prasad Poudel, informed the meeting about the NRB’s efforts to make the financial sector strong and dynamic.

Executive Director of the Department of Economic Research, Dr. On the occasion, Prof. Ram Sharan Kharel presented a working paper incorporating the economic and financial situation and monetary policy’s political line. He talked about the background of overall economy, the status of economy and financial sector, the existing challenges and the policy initiatives taken by the government and the NRB to address them and the roadmap for long-term reforms.

On the occasion, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission and economist Prithviraj Legal commented on the working paper and said that the proportion of investment was weak with the increase in total national savings.

He noted that while the external sector is strong, other indicators of the economy are very weak. He said that the economy would not improve unless the current excess liquidity was used to increase investment in productive sectors.

Economist Dr. Govinda Nepal was of the view that the government should make efforts to mobilize the foreign exchange reserve for productive and infrastructure development.

Economist Dr. Likewise, Kalpana Khanal pointed out the need of increasing investment in infrastructure projects by utilizing the available financial resources, saying continuous decreasing interest rate could promote capital flight.

Former member of the National Commission and associate professor Dr. Ramesh Chandra Poudel stressed on the need of strong fiscal policy to mobilize foreign investment and increase production and productivity, saying country’s economy is weak.