Kathmandu. Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has made it clear that the government has no intention of selectively harassing any organization or individual.

Minister Wagle said this during a meeting with the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) today. He reminded that this government follows the open market economy. He said that the open market should not be considered as a loose economy.

Minister Wagle said that the investigation into financial crimes including money laundering has been carried out since many years on the basis of irrefutable evidences. “The purpose is to impose a monetary penalty for white-collar crime. We have no intention of hurting an organization or an individual. We believe in open market economics. That’s not a loose economy. ’’

During the meeting, Minister Wagle said that action would be taken as per the law and not by targeting anyone. He said that no one will be spared from crime and the private sector will not be arrested.

During the meeting, he said that small investors were being terrorized by spreading fear in the stock market. Wagle said that this cannot be considered appropriate. He said that the government does not intend to take any action against small investors.

He said that the share market is more systematic and transparent than other sectors of Nepal. He said that this system is reliable because it is paperless, transactions through banks, dividend directly in the account, tax system clear, who can be tracked who bought and sold. He said that the government has taken the stock market as a model area for digitalization. “The prime minister is also trying to digitise other sectors like the stock market,” he said.

When you come to the stock market, you ask, “Where did you get the property from? He said he was not in a position to ask.

He said that action will be taken only as per the existing laws if anyone has done insider trading, manipulation and other unethical activities. He said that there is no need to panic in the market now and that there is also work to improve the stock market in the coming days.

Wagle said that reforms would be forwarded after studying the NEPSE restructuring report.

He said points 33 and 34 of the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s pledge would be implemented and urged the investors to study those points. “There is no need to panic now that the market has fallen, golden days are coming,” he said, adding, “This government has been working for 265 weeks.” It’s not a matter of what to do with a week’s time. ’’

He said that the first priority is to get Nepal out of the grey list and the grey list has brought international disrepute and will have a negative impact on the investment climate.

“We have to take it out of the grey list, talk only on paper and not bring it out,” he said, adding, “We have now entered the phase of implementation.” ’’