Kathmandu. Finance Minister Rameshwor Khanal’s plan to restructure the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) has been in discussion for the past two decades.

Every finance minister has been saying that NEPSE should be restructured, but it was not implemented. This time, Minister Khanal formed a committee by giving 50 days to the cabinet meeting held on November 18 to study the need for NEPSE restructuring and submit suggestions. On the occasion, Minister Khanal had suggested to a five-member study committee led by former chairman of the Nepal Accounting Board Prakash Jung Thapa.

Minister Khanal also informed about the kind of report he was looking for. Minister Khanal wanted to privatize NEPSE at any cost. In the report submitted by the committee on January 12, Minister Khanal had sought suggestions on one point. However, the report has been submitted with 4 suggestions in a roundabout language. Sources claim that during the discussion with the secretaries, undersecretaries and joint secretaries of the Ministry of Finance, there were obstacles in preparing the report as per the demand of Minister Khanal.

According to sources, the committee has been compelled to give roundabout suggestions to the committee due to the government’s ownership of NEPSE, allowing them to go to America and Europe from time to time in the name of study, and to get allowances for the training to be taken by the general level employees.

The Finance Minister had sought suggestions on selling all the shares owned by the government in NEPSE and to whom to sell those shares, at what price and by what method to sell them.

The report prepared by the committee, which is influenced by the employees of the ministry, has suggested increasing the paid-up capital to Rs 3 billion by issuing right or bonus shares, bringing in strategic partners, selling 100 percent or the government keeping only 25 percent.

Minister Khanal wanted suggestions to resolve the problem of around two decades, restructure NEPSE and sell 100 percent shares with proper method for this.

There is a suspicion that it will also be implemented as the report has not been prepared as the minister wanted.

According to sources, while preparing the report, NEPSE is preparing to go for auction while selling the shares in the name of the government, a company should not be allowed to apply more than 5 percent and foreign strategic partners will be given 15 to 25 percent.

Later, when the finance staff dominated, the recommendations section of the report became the same as before.

Currently, the government has 58.66 percent stake, Nepal Rastra Bank 9.5 percent, Employee Provident Fund 10 percent, Rastriya Banijya Bank 11.23 percent, Laxmi Bank 5 percent, Prabhu Bank 5 percent and other companies 0.60 percent.