Kathmandu. A meeting of the Finance Committee of the Federal Parliament has discussed and passed the eight clauses of the bill with amendments. The meeting of the committee held clause-wise discussions on the Nepal Rastra Bank (Third Amendment) Bill, 2083. 

Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the bill have been passed as as proposed , according toLaxman Aryal, secretary of the committee.Various sub-sections of Section 2 and Section 3 have also been approved without any changes. 

The meeting further clarifies the objectives of the Bank as mentioned in Section 4 of the bill.The main objectives of the bank are to maintain price stability, banking, financial and external sector stability, and to assist in the implementation of the economic policy of the Government of Nepal. 

Clause 6 of the Bill relating to government finances and developmental activities (quasi-fiscal has been omitted. Similarly, in sub-section 2 of the same section, the legal scope has been widened by adding the word ‘loan’ after the word ‘loan’. Clause 7 has also been agreed to remove issues related to government finances and developmental works. 

Sub-section 5 of Section 8 of the bill has made important changes related to foreign aid.Now, approval from the Council of Ministers of the Government of Nepal instead of ‘Ministry of Finance’ is mandatory for receiving loan or grant from international organizations. 

Sub-section 5 (5) of Section 8 of the bill states that the Nepal RastraBank may receive loan, grant or technical assistance from an international ( organization with the approval of the Ministry of Finance. The committee has amended this provision of the bill in a new way.There was no clear provision regarding international cooperation in the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS. 

Although Section 11 of the Act mentioned “international cooperation and relations”, it was not clear. Sub-section 2 provides that banks shall provide banking and payment services to foreign governments,foreign central banks, foreign banks banks and international and payment services But this does not open the door to getting loans or grants from international organizations. According to the committee secretariat, the initial sections of the bill have been completed with the agreement reached by the government in the committee and discussions on other sections will be forwarded gradually.