Kathmandu, July 21: Prime Minister Balendra Shah has said that the current government has given special priority to the capital market as a key driver of the country’s economic development and prosperity.
Prime Minister Shah made the remarks during a meeting with the representatives of capital market stakeholders and regulatory bodies at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Monday.
He said that promoting entrepreneurship and creating employment opportunities through the capital market remain among the government’s top priorities.
Urging the businessmen in this sector to work with confidence and high morale, he stressed the need to make Nepal’s capital market professional and dignified.
Stating that this would flourish entrepreneurship and increase employment opportunities, the Prime Minister reiterated that the government would always encourage those who perform well while adopting a zero-tolerance policy against wrongdoing.
During the discussion, representatives of capital market stakeholder organisations emphasised the need for legal, policy, institutional and systemic reforms to ensure the sustainable development of the capital market.
Stating that they were further encouraged by their dialogue with Prime Minister Shah, they urged the government to improve the initial public offering (IPO) system, develop a fair pricing mechanism by maintaining a balance between demand and supply in the secondary market, and create an environment that would increase daily market turnover to more than Rs. 30 billion.
Similarly, the representatives also called on the Nepal Rastra Bank to take necessary measures to facilitate credit flows to broker companies engaged in margin trading through banks and financial institutions.
They have suggested abolishing the existing system where banks and financial institutions are not allowed to sell securities for at least six months after investing in them and making arrangements to fix the share collateral loan limit at 5 per cent of the total loan instead of linking it to the core capital. They also urged the Ministry of Finance to introduce a tax adjustment mechanism for losses incurred from individual share transactions, encourage large institutional investors such as the Employees Provident Fund, the Citizens Investment Trust and the Social Security Fund to invest in the secondary market, restructure the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) with a strategic partner, and facilitate investment in Nepal’s capital market by Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs).
On behalf of the regulatory authorities, Chairperson of the Securities Board of Nepal Dr. Gopal Prasad Bhatta said the Board had incorporated stakeholders’ suggestions and had already implemented the Capital Market Policy for Fiscal Year 2026/27 and the Nepal Capital Market Roadmap 2026.
He added that the programmes outlined in these policy documents were being implemented in phases through a structured action plan.
Similarly, Chairperson of the Nepal Stock Exchange Amrit Lamsal said that the process of drafting and amending the necessary laws relating to banks and financial institutions, the insurance sector and the capital market had already begun.
Stating that appropriate modalities will be determined and taken forward for the restructuring of NEPSE, he expressed his commitment to make securities trading more effective and systematic by developing a system in accordance with the policies issued by the SEBON.
President of the Stock Brokers Association of Nepal Sagar Dhakal, NAASA Securities representative Sandeep Jalan, Nepal Life Insurance representative Navaraj Silwal, Chief Executive Officer of Nagarik Stock Dealers Company Limited Maheshwor Lal Shrestha, Capital Market Committee Chair Priya Raj Regmi and investor Ambika Prasad Paudel attended the meeting.
