NRB Governor Poudel attends 48th SAARC Finance Governors' Group meet

KATHMANDU: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Dr Biswo Nath Poudel participated in the 48th SAARC Finance Governors' Group meeting held in Washington, DC on Tuesday.

The SAARC Finance Governors' Group meeting was organised during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings ongoing in Washington, DC. The meeting, chaired by Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur, saw the participation of governors and deputy governors of central banks, officials from finance ministries and other representatives from the South Asia region.

Addressing the meeting, Governor Poudel analysed Nepal's current economic situation and stated that indicators of inflation and the external sector are stable. However, Poudel expressed the view that the recently developed political situation has added challenges to the efforts for fiscal stability and sustainable economic growth. Governor Poudel informed that policy facilitation efforts have been initiated to address this challenge and revitalise the economy and its dynamism.

In his inaugural address at the meeting, Bangladesh Bank Governor Mansur stated that SAARC Finance is a common platform for regional cooperation and the sharing of best practices among central banks in the South Asia region. On the occasion, representatives from the participating central banks gave presentations on the current economic and financial status of their respective countries.

The participants discussed the effectiveness of the SAARC Payment Council, financial inclusion in the SAARC region, the possibility of a currency swap among SAARC nations, a common research and data system, SAARC scholarships and the future work direction. The governors of the participating central banks emphasised the need to make coordination and cooperation on contemporary economic and financial issues more effective among SAARC member nations in the days ahead.

From this meeting, the chairmanship of SAARC Finance was handed over to the Royal Monetary Authority, Bhutan's central bank. The meeting was also attended by Dr Ram Sharan Kharel, Executive Director of the Economic Research Department, and Sharan Kumar Adhikari, Director of the Governor's Office.

SAARC Finance is a network of governors of central banks and finance secretaries from the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. SAARC Finance was established in 1988 with the objective of discussing macroeconomic policies and exchanging mutual cooperation among SAARC nations. The eleventh SAARC summit, held in Kathmandu in January 2002, granted formal recognition to SAARC Finance.