Kathmandu. Lima Adhikari, a lawmaker from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (Rastriya Swatantra Party), has urged the government to hold further discussions on the formation of a separate monetary policy committee at the Nepal Rastra Bank. During the discussion on the report of the committee on the bill designed to amend the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 in the Finance Committee meeting held on Wednesday, lawmaker Adhikari said that a separate committee was necessary to make the monetary policy making more effective and transparent.
He said that the committee had held clause-wise discussions on the bill for more than a month, adding that the members had given suggestions based on their views, studies, research and experiences. He said that the members of the committee have a common concern about making the NRB timely, effective and more autonomous. Adhikari expressed happiness over the provision of at least one woman director in the board of directors of the NRB.
However, she has urged the government to reconsider the issue saying that the proposal to form the Monetary Policy Committee was not included in the bill. According to her, the proposal has been put forward on the concept that the Board of Directors of the NRB will look after the overall institutional governance, a separate Monetary Policy Committee will formulate the monetary policy and the management team will look after the overall management.
Lawmaker Adhikari said, “The issue was put forward with the idea that a separate committee should be formed to make the monetary policy more effective for the NRB. I think we should discuss the issue of the Monetary Policy Committee and finalize it.” Stating that the Monetary Policy Committee is in practice in different countries, Adhikari said that such a structure can increase transparency and expertise in monetary policy making.
