KATHMANDU: President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Birendra Raj Pandey, has said that Nepal’s stock market should be developed as a major financial engine for economic development.

Addressing the ‘Nepal Capital Market Discourse-2026’ organized by BankingSamachar. com and sponsored by NASA Securities here today, Pandey said that the share market should be developed not only as a medium of share trading but also as a medium to mobilize long-term capital in industry, infrastructure, energy, agriculture and other productive sectors.

He said, “The real purpose of the capital market is to convert savings into productive investment. Today, millions of Nepalese citizens are saving from their income. The capital market should become a medium to mobilize the scattered savings as long-term capital in industry, infrastructure, energy, agriculture and other productive sectors. In that sense, the capital market is not only a financial market but also the financial infrastructure of Nepal’s industrialization and economic transformation. ’

He was of the view that capital market should be developed as the financial infrastructure for Nepal’s industrialization and economic transformation.

Stating that Nepal has been dependent on remittance, consumption and import-based economic growth for a long time, Pandey said that now we should move towards economic growth based on investment, production, productivity, innovation and export. “Now there is a need to expand industries, build infrastructure, commercialize and modernize agriculture, expand tourism, and make information technology and digital economy the engine of new economic growth,” he said.

According to Pandey, long-term and large amount of capital is needed to create a large number of jobs in the country. He said that although the banking system is an important basis for Nepal’s economic development, banking loans alone cannot meet the entire financial needs of infrastructure, industry and long-term projects.

Therefore, along with the banking system, the capital market should be developed as the next major financial engine of economic development, he said. Pandey said that to achieve the goal of a USD 100 billion economy and double-digit economic growth set by the CNI, a broad, diversified, reliable and long-term capital market is necessary.

Pandey said that the expansion in Nepal’s capital market in recent years should be taken positively. According to him, there are currently more than 75 lakh demat accounts and more than 65 lakh ‘Mero share’ users in Nepal.

He said, “The progress we have made is also remarkable. In this context, we should take the expansion of Nepal’s capital market in the last few years positively. Even today, having more than 75 lakh demat accounts and more than 65 lakh users of my shares is a big change in itself. This is a big achievement compared to the situation a decade ago. ’

Stating that the total market capitalization of Nepal’s stock market has reached about 66 percent of the GDP, he said that the capital market has now become an important part of the economy rather than a limited part of the economy. But he said that the expansion of the market should not be evaluated only on the basis of the growth of the NEPSE index.

He said, “Similarly, the total market capitalization of Nepal’s stock market has reached around 66 percent of GDP. This shows that the capital market is no longer a marginal part of Nepal’s economy, it has become an important part of the economy.” ’

Stressing that the expansion of capital market should have impact on real economy, he said development would be incomplete if the capital market was growing but its impact was not seen in production, employment and investment.