Kathmandu. Prime Minister BalendraShah held discussions with stakeholders of capital market, securities business and insurance sector. During the meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Monday, the meeting discussed the present situation of capital market, the need for reform, policy provisions and matters related to the overall economy.

Stock market investor Ambika Prasad Poudel, Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) Chairman Gopal Bhatta, Chairman of Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), Sagar Dhakal, President of Stock Brokers Association,The meeting was attended by Sandip Jalan of NASA Securities, Sitaram Thapaliya, former CEO of NEPSE, Nawaraj Silwal, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Life Insurance, Maheshwor Lal Shrestha, Priya Raj Regmi, among others. 

Talking to media persons after the discussion, investor Ambika Prasad Poudel said that the discussion was held on the necessary reforms for the development and expansion of the capital market.

According to him, the meeting discussed policy and legal reforms related to Nepal Rastra Bank, Securities Board of Nepal, Nepal Stock Exchange and Ministry of Finance.According to him, Prime Minister Shah has shown interest on the development and expansion of capital market and boosting the morale of investors. 

“We have discussed the reforms to be done in the capital market. In particular, the meeting discussed the work to be done by the Nepal Rashtra Bank for the development and expansion of the capital market, the reforms to be made by the Securities Board of Nepal, the issues related to the stock exchange and the policy and legal reforms to be made by the Ministry of Finance. The Prime Minister listened to all these issues seriously. “The Prime Minister’s Office will also play the necessary role in the development and expansion of the overall capital market and boosting the morale of the investors,” he said. ’

According to Poudel, the Prime Minister was of the view that the capital market should be developed as an important medium of capital mobilization and it should help create employment opportunities andsupport the economy.

Poudel said that the discussion was focused on how to make the market healthy, transparent and effective in the long term rather than the recent developments seen in the capital market.

In the discussion, suggestions were made to improve the declining morale of investors, to maintain balance between demand and supply in the market, to increase the role of institutional investors, to simplify the arrangement of margin lending, to bring in investment of Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) and to make the stock exchange technology-friendly.।

Likewise, the meeting also discussed reforms in the initial public offering (IPO) system under the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), review of the 10-unit application system, streamlining the book building process, conducting intraday transactions and developing new transaction tools.