Kathmandu: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a Chair for SAARC-Finance for 2020 has organized a virtual event with the participation of the Governors of the Central Banks of SAARC countries on Wednesday.
According the Nepal Rastra Bank, Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari participated in the virtual meeting.
The meeting was attended by Governors, Deputy Governors and officials from Nepal Rastra Bank, Afghanistan Bank, Bangladesh Bank, Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, Reserve Bank of India, Maldives Monetary Authority, State Bank of Pakistan and Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
On the occasion, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikant Das, who is currently the chair of SAARC Finance, gave a welcome speech. Delivering an opening remark, he said that the RBI has implemented 10 percent of the GDP to reduce the impact of COVID-19 and other policy measures. He also explained about the overall economic indicators and financial condition of the India.
On the occasion, Governor Adhikari informed about the current economic situation of Nepal and the impact of COVD-19 on Nepal’s economy and financial sector. He also briefed about the policy measures NRB has adopted to mitigate it, such as reduction in policy rates, increase on refinancing limit, credit classification and provisioning management, managing additional capital provision, debt rescheduling.
He said that e-commerce has increased significantly due to COVID-19 and it will also increase financial access. He also expressed the view that a study should be conducted at the SAARC Finance to adopt a digital common currency.
During the meeting, the SAARC Governors discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the overall economy and the policy measures taken by the respective central banks and governments to mitigate it.
Nephil Matangi Maskey, Director at Governor’s Office, Narayan Prasad Pokhrel, SAARC Finance Coordinator and other officials of the NRB were present on the virtual meeting.
