Nepal Rastra Bank to Announce Monetary Policy Today

Kathmandu — Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is set to unveil the monetary policy for the fiscal year 2082/83 today (Friday).

The proposed policy was presented to the Bank’s Board of Directors on Thursday evening. According to a board member, the meeting discussed the implementation status of the current fiscal year’s monetary policy, the country’s economic situation, and international trends. The detailed monetary policy for the upcoming year will be presented in Friday morning’s meeting.

This will be the 59th monetary policy introduced since the first one in 2023 B.S., though Nepal Rastra Bank was established in 2013 B.S. The practice of the Governor announcing the monetary policy began in the fiscal year 2059/60.

This will be the first monetary policy under the leadership of new Governor Dr. Bishwanath Poudel, who has pledged to align the Bank’s actions with government policy.

The objectives of the monetary policy include managing liquidity, controlling inflation, balancing foreign income and expenditure, and maintaining financial stability. The policy will support the government’s target of 6% economic growth and keeping inflation within 5.5%.

To meet these goals, the monetary policy is expected to set a target of approximately 11% credit expansion. As announced in the national budget, the central bank has already extended the deadline for implementing working capital loan guidelines by one year and offered relief to small borrowers by extending repayment schedules by two years.

The upcoming monetary policy is also expected to introduce flexible measures to revitalize the slowing economy, particularly by easing working capital loans as highlighted in the national budget.