Entrepreneurs have emphasized that the government should bring a stable policy to increase the confidence of entrepreneurs and businessmen who have been weakened by the covid and subsequent conflicts and economic relaxation in the international arena. They say that the policy to be changed quickly has created confusion among the general public and entrepreneurs, so the policy should last for at least 10 years. Due to the decrease in the confidence of the general public and businessmen, they demand that confidence should be increased through the upcoming budget as the liquidity in the bank has increased.

The recovery after covid was good, then the financial crisis came in Sri Lanka. Assessing that there will be a crisis here too, the government took more precautions than necessary,' said Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Industries and Commerce, in the first session of the 'Economic Summit 2024' organized by Kantipur Media Group on Sunday. Not only did the region suffer, the revenue collected by the government also decreased. Liquidity increased in banks due to fears of an immediate change in policy. Policy changes in a moment, policy is made without looking back and thinking. When it comes to the merger of banks and financial institutions, the facilities provided by the budget are cut in the next budget. President Dhakal said that because the confidence of the common people and businessmen has decreased, there should be a budget to increase confidence. There has been a problem in the market due to some policies of Nepal. Now the budget is coming, the monetary policy is also coming,' Dhakal said, 'Through this, the confidence of the common people should be increased.' Industrialists got into trouble due to the policy of change in one or two years. An industry needs at least a 10-year policy,' said Agarwal, 'In addition to the policy, an industrial development strategy is also needed.'

At this time, Agarwal also said that the industrialist-businessman is in a dilemma whether to operate the business or close it. He argues that due to the narrow policy rules adopted by the government, even small businessmen are forced to go for foreign employment. He pointed out that since they are unable to pay the bank loans and there is no more employment situation in the country, the small businessmen have not found an option to go abroad. He says that the result of the narrow policy taken by the government for the last three years is the migration of small industrialists abroad. 

Nepal Chamber of Commerce President Kamlesh Kumar Agarwal said that the engine of the private sector, which plays an important role in advancing the country's economy or is praised as the 'driving seat', is deteriorating. He also commented that the private sector and the overall economy have become relaxed due to austerity policies. "From the financial year 073/74 to 077/78, even though there was no working environment due to the earthquake, 6-6 months of lockdown, and the corona epidemic, the private sector moved forward enthusiastically when the policies of the regulatory bodies, monetary and financial policies provided concessions," he said. He said, 'We achieved an economic growth rate of 3.9 percent against the negative GDP growth in 077/78. Even in 78/79 there was an economic growth rate of 5.8 percent, we were almost back to normal. But after the narrow policy in 078/79, the economic growth rate was only 1.86 percent in 079/80. He said that the economy will not be able to move forward if the state does not bring investment-friendly and confidence-increasing policies. 

'The private sector is called the driving seat of the economy, but now the engine of the private sector has failed. The first priority of the policies and programs and the budget of the next financial year should be to end economic laxity and provide policy protection to the private sector," he said. "It needs lubrication and maintenance. Upendra Mahato, founder president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association, complained that the government has given less importance to the 6 million non-resident Nepalis, who act as a bridge between the private sector and foreign investors. 

'Don't overshadow the campaign of non-resident Nepalis by watching the fight of hundreds of people,' he said, 'Non-resident Nepalis are not only sending remittances, but also want to invest in Nepal. But that has not been done. Even after three and a half years, Mahato mentioned that the investment could not be brought in through the 'Nepal-NRN Development Fund', which has 10 percent of the government and 90 percent of non-resident Nepalis. "This fund has the potential to bring in billions of dollars," he said, "even a person like me who has access to both the government and the media is not able to bring investment to it." The government says bring investment. But it is difficult to complete the process when I go to the agencies saying that I will bring it.

Kalpana Khanal, a senior researcher at the Institute of Policy Research, said that even though the economy is lax in the country, not all sectors have collapsed. She emphasized on the need to increase the gross domestic product (GDP) from the productive sector. 

It is not a situation where all areas have been devastated, some areas are doing well even though economic relaxation is seen in some areas,' she said. The condition of agriculture, education and health sector is also good.'' Khanala said that we are in a recession as the economic growth rate of GDP has been negative for 6 consecutive months.

He says that now technically we are in a recession. She said that the tax rates are not based on research and there is also a problem. "The long-term industrial strategy should be improved in the upcoming budget and monetary policy," she said.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Madhukumar Marasini said that events outside Nepal, a small country that has embraced the policy of open economy, are very disturbed. He says that to counter this, we should be able to become financially independent. "Because local production is not enough, we have to be influenced by international events. After the covid epidemic, the import in Nepal has increased rapidly, he said, the price of petroleum products has increased worldwide due to the disruption of the supply chain due to the Russia-Ukraine war. We spent a lot of dollars importing it. It brought ripples in our economy.

He also said that initiatives should be started from the ground level to make Nepal self-sufficient at the basic level. "My request to the private sector is that since you are the engine of growth, connect this engine of growth to the rural areas as well," he said, "now the province and municipality should also be included in the engine of development."