KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah announced that the government has placed the capital market at the forefront of its economic development and prosperity agenda.

Speaking at a high-level meeting with capital market stakeholders and regulatory heads at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, PM Shah emphasized leveraging the share market to foster entrepreneurship and generate employment.

Urging investors and operators to work with high morale, the Prime Minister stressed the need to make Nepal’s capital market professional and dignified.

He assured full government support for ethical practices but warned of a strict zero-tolerance policy against financial malpractices and market manipulation.

During the discussion, representatives from various capital market organizations called for comprehensive legal, policy, institutional, and systemic reforms to ensure sustainable market growth.

Expressing optimism over the dialogue, they urged the government to improve the Initial Public Offering (IPO) system, stabilize secondary market demand-supply dynamics, and create a conducive environment to scale daily trading volumes past the Rs 30 billion mark.

Furthermore, they requested the central bank to ease margin lending for broker companies, scrap the mandatory six-month holding period for commercial banks investing in securities, and set the share mortgage loan limit at 5% of total loans instead of tying it to core capital.

Stakeholders also placed several fiscal and structural demands before the government to further deepen the market.

They requested the Ministry of Finance to introduce tax adjustment provisions for individual capital losses, encourage mega funds like the Employees Provident Fund, Citizen Investment Trust, and Social Security Fund to enter the secondary market, restructure the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) with a strategic partner, and open legal avenues for Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) to invest.

The high-profile delegation included prominent figures such as Stock Broker Association of Nepal (SBAN) President Sagar Dhakal, Sandeep Jalan of Naasa Securities, Nabaraj Silwal of Nepal Life Insurance, Nagarik Stock Dealer CEO Maheshwar Lal Shrestha, Capital Market Committee Chairman Priya Raj Regmi, and veteran investor Ambika Prasad Paudel.

In response, regulatory bodies pledged immediate and structured action to address the industry’s concerns.

Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) Chairman Gopal Bhatta stated that the regulator has already internalized these grievances by launching the Capital Market Policy for FY 2026/27 and the Nepal Capital Market Roadmap 2026, both of which are currently being rolled out via a phase-wise action plan.

Similarly, NEPSE Chairman Amrit Lamsal confirmed that the drafting and amendment of necessary acts to overhaul the banking, insurance, and capital markets have already commenced, promising that NEPSE’s system upgrades and structural transformation will proceed under an optimized modality.