Kathmandu. A two-day ‘Advanced Banking Training for Economic Journalists’ programme organized by The Association of Economic Journalists of Nepal with the support of Nabil Bank concluded today. The training programme, which began on Friday at lemon tree premiere at Budhanilkantha in Kathmandu, concluded on Saturday. It is believed that the training has helped in enhancing the capacity of journalists to write news on banking.
National Planning Commission member Prakash Kumar Shrestha, Nepal Rastra Bank Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra, former Executive Officer of Nepal Rastra Bank Nar Bahadur Thapa, former President of Nepal Bankers Association Bhuwan Dahal, Chief Executive Officer of Nabil Bank Manoj Gyawali, among others, were present on the occasion.
On the first day of the program on Friday, Nabil Bank’s Finance Head Sandeep Babu Poudel gave training on ‘Determining Profit in the Bank’. Similarly, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Nepal Police Deepak Raj Awasthi and Information Security Officer of Nabil Bank Pravesh Poudel gave separate presentations on digital financial literacy.
Similarly, a panel discussion on ‘Economic Development and The Way Forward’ was also held. Former Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Nar Bahadur Thapa, former President of Nepal Bankers Association Bhuwan Dahal and economist Nishant Khanal were present as speakers in the discussion facilitated by nafiz’s outgoing chairman Modnath Dhakal. On the second day of the program, Nabil Bank CEO Manoj Gyawali highlighted the expectations of the banking sector through the media.
Member of the National Planning Commission. Prakash Kumar Shrestha said that the lack of social credibility has caused disappointment among the general public. He opined that people are losing credibility due to people who do not know about the economy and the media that disseminates information without being based on facts. He also urged the government to focus on the positive aspects of not only the banking sector but also the economy.
Similarly, Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Mishra urged the journalists who are the carriers of information to understand the risks in the financial sector and adopt sensitivity. “I request journalists to understand the sensitivity of the financial sector by disseminating factual information,” he said.
Manoj Gyawali, CHIEF Executive Officer of Nabil Bank, urged the media persons to only be based on facts while disseminating information in the banking sector. He said that banks are not private institutions but public institutions, so it is necessary to disseminate news based on facts. However, citing the example of banks being wrong, he said news can be written only by separating right from wrong. He argued that the role of the media would be important to show that the bank is not private but public and is run with the savings of the general public.
Chairperson of Nafiz, Menuka Karki, said that this kind of training will make the pen of journalists deeper and more effective. Stating that bad loans are increasing day by day in the banking sector, she said that there is a fear among the people that this sector will be in trouble. He said that every bank should provide loans easily by encouraging entrepreneurs to overcome the disappointment seen in the country.
Who said what in the panel discussion?
Former Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Nar Bahadur Thapa argued that the government’s failure to implement the development strategic plans has led to frustration among the people. He said that the situation of implementation of development projects has been weak since the year 2072 bs of the constitution, which has created an atmosphere of disappointment among the people.
He expressed the view that the government would implement such strategic schemes to keep the economy moving, facilitate loans from the banking sector to the productive sector.
Bhuwan Dahal, former president of bankers’ association, said the government’s failure to make capital expenditure effective has disrupted the cycle of the economy. He opined that the factual policies adopted by the mass media along with the strategy adopted by the government to create an atmosphere of confidence among the people by boosting the economy could lead the people from despair to hope.
Similarly, economist Nishant Khanal said that the lack of coordination between the expectations of the citizens and the pace of development has created an atmosphere of despair among the people. “Although development has made strides in statistics, it has spread frustration as people have not been able to realize the development as expected,” he said. ’
On the occasion, experts urged the government to disseminate positive information to the people as the country’s economic indicators are improving despite all the problems of the economy, not only in the banking sector. Since the role of the media is important in disseminating information, they stressed the need to reduce the frustration among the people by disseminating factual and positive information.
