With the formation of the new government, the private sector has become active to apprise the country's leadership about the state of the recession-mired economy. On Tuesday a Federation of Nepalese Chambers and Industry (FNCCI) delegation met with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel. Anjan Shrestha, Vice President of FNCCI was also part of the delegation. ApEx talked to Shrestha about the meetings and the demands and suggestions of FNCCI to bring the derailed economy back on track. Excerpts: How do you expect the new government to address the country's economic woes? Revitalizing the economy should be the top priority of the government. Neither the private sector nor the government or the general public can bear the brunt of the crisis anymore. There will be more problems in the economy in the coming days if the problems go unaddressed. Hence, the government needs to pay heed to the suggestions of the private sector and work proactively to resolve the issues.

What issues were raised by the FNCCI delegation in the meeting with newly appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Tuesday?

 As the country's economy is in crisis, we met the new Prime Minister to apprise him about the state of the economy and private sector. We also suggested possible steps the government should take to bring the economy on the right track. We are surrounded by the liquidity crisis in the market which has led to interest rates remaining persistently higher and has contributed to the sharp contraction in business activities. The money cycle in the market has been badly affected. How serious is the new PM to address the private sector's concerns? The PM told us that he understands the problems surrounding the economy and our concerns and stressed that reviving the economy is the government's first priority. He said the very first meeting of the Council of Ministers has made a special decision in this regard.  FNCCI also met Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel on Tuesday. What was the private sector's main agenda and what was his response? We found that he understands the problems in the economy. He told us that the government and private sector are complementary to each other. We have clearly stated our demands and have suggested ways to end the economic slowdown. We hope the new government will work seriously to take the country’s economy out of the slump.  FNCCI has been strongly demanding the deferral of the guidelines on working capital loans. How does the private sector not want this monetary arrangement to be implemented? The postponement of guidelines on working capital loans is our main demand. Given the current situation where most business activities have almost stagnated, it is not possible to implement the guidelines. So, we have been demanding that its implementation should be deferred by at least two years. What is the current status revenue collection ?  The government's revenue collection has declined mainly due to weakening demands and a slowdown in business activities. The businessmen are struggling to repay the banks' interest rates and loan installments. Hence, our demand is to extend the deadline. Automobiles are one of the major verticals of your business group. The government has recently lifted restrictions on automobile imports. Have importers started to open Letters of Credit (LC) to import vehicles? Importers are gradually opening the LCs after the government lifted import restrictions. However, there is no enthusiasm in the automobile sector at the moment. Except for electric vehicles, the demand is depressed in the market. The automobile business will not bounce back until there is sufficient liquidity in the banking system to finance the auto loans.