The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank, to immediately introduce measures to deal with the problem of credit crunch and rampant hike in lending rates.

A delegation led by CNI Vice President Rajesh Kumar Agrawal on Wednesday met with Acting NRB Governor Chintamani Siwakoti and said shortage of loans and high lending rates would eventually erode competitiveness of industries, leading to contraction of industrial activities. “This will ultimately hit economic growth and job creation process,” a statement issued by the CNI quoted Agrawal as saying.

During the meeting, the CNI also submitted recommendations that the NRB could refer to to resolve the problems faced by the banking sector, says the statement.