Sunday, July 21, 2013

NEPAL - FM Koirala to EPF: introduce cheaper housing project for employees

Kathmandu, July 19: Finance Minister Shankar Prasad Koirala Friday asked the Employees of the Provident Funds (EPF) to introduce a cheaper housing project targeting the employees.

Speaking at a programme here, Minister Koirala said that the government would manage the land for constructing the houses if the EPF introduced cheaper housing project for the employees.
He further said that the EPF should formulate a broad commercial plan to make the savers richer as the EPF has been connecting more than 470,000 civil servants and employees working in different institutions.
Koirala committed to implementing the health insurance facilities in coordination of the Insurance Board and EPF at the earliest possible.
The budget has included the provision of health insurance, he said.
Krishna Prasad Acharya, EPF Administrator Chief, said EPF was finding it difficult to maintain fund's yield due to high inflation rate.
"We have realized that we are unable to provide service and facilities as per the aspiration of the savers," he said.
 He said, “We are capable to provide loan to any project if the investors proposed loan with the effective development projects which could contribute to the economic development of the country.”
Establishment of Social Security Fund has increased a risk of limiting the role of the EPF, he added. 
On the occasion, representatives of Employees' Trade Union drew attention of Koirala to stop a trend of providing fund to the corporations which have suffered a huge loss.
They stressed the need of making the EPF free from political interference.
The EPF has recently signed an agreement to provide Rs. 10 billion to the Nepal Airlines Corporations to buy new aircraft.
Earlier, the EPF also invested in the under construction Upper Tamakoshi and Chilime Hydropower Project.

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