Cash incentive process in limbo

KATHMANDU, FEB 17:
 
Though the simplification of the cash incentive facility is a much awaited decision for Nepali exporters, lack of prompt decision by the High Level Committee has left exporters clueless.

“It has been several months since cash incentive process was withheld for further simplification, but till date we are not sure when the government will formally implement it,” said various exporter associations.

According to the vice chairman of National Planning Commission and coordinator of the High Level Committee Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, due to the busy schedule of some members, the committee has failed to organise its meeting, which is supposed to take the final decision.

“A meeting of the High Level Committee will soon give a final decision,” said Kshetry, adding that they are planning to organise the meeting after a week.

The revised cash incentive procedure will help all export items be eligible for the government announced incentive. Earlier, it was mostly lentils that had received recommendations for the cash incentive facility.

“The revised cash incentive will be a completely hassle free process and exporters will be able to easily get their incentive based on the documents given to banks,” said Kshetry.

According to him, the revised procedure might also include some random investigation of exportable items to ensure value addition in products.

The High Level Committee will also mention some criteria for products to fix individual percentage for the export items.

The Department of Industry, till date, has recommended around 15 different products for cash incentive. However, due to lack of sufficient budget, the process was withheld.

Exporters had also recommended the committee to allow cash incentive facility to trading firms as it also has an equal contribution in the country’s exports.

Source: THT