Finance Minister sees need of making share market competitive, healthy

Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has underscored making the capital market healthier and more competitive.

Inaugurating the World Investor Week here today, he laid emphasis on enhancing the capital market-related education of investors and on the Nepal Rastra Bank and the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) intensifying their regulatory role.

“It is seen that the market is affected at present due to some micromanagement of the regulators. I expect a decision on this soon,” the Finance Minister said, adding that the share market needs to be made healthier.

Stating that talks of ‘insider trading’ are also heard from time to time, he urged the SEBON to bring this under the purview of regulation in a decisive manner.

The Finance Minister directed agencies like SEBON, and Nepal Stock Exchange to fulfil their regulatory role in the interest of the general investors and also to expand information and literacy on the capital market.

He argued that the capital market is becoming competitive and the situation of monopoly has ended after the new stock broker licenses were issued, adding that the capital market needed to be made more competitive as well.

Finance Minister Mahat stressed the need to increase financial and capital market literacy as only a few people are knowledgeable about the share market and many people do not have information on how to make a profit investing in this sector. More information should be provided to the general public about the share market, he stressed.

SEBON chairperson Ramesh Kumar Hamal said financial literacy is very low in Nepal. “Financial literacy is less than 20 percent in Nepal and this is low at the regional level itself. All bodies and sides should fulfil their respective role to increase fiscal literacy,” he said, adding that new investment tools have developed and the revolution in the information technology sector has brought new opportunities as well as challenges, and we should be prepared for this also.

SEBON has brought into operation a chatbot based on artificial intelligence from today for investor education and hearing of grievances. Various programmes will be organised for a week to mark World Investor Week, it is said.