Economy affected due to lack of equal access to information: Finance Minister Khanal

Kathmandu. Speaking at a programme on ‘Use of Right to Information in Media’ in the capital on Friday, he said that there is a big imbalance in the market due to unequal access to information. According to Khanal, not only the law related to RTI but also various standards and laws have addressed the dissemination of information. But in practice, he said that competition is being affected as all the investors of the capital market do not get the same information at the same time. Finance Minister Khanal said that some people are maintaining a monopoly on information due to ‘insider trading’ in the capital market. According to Khanal, there is a big difference in profit and loss between the traders who get timely information about the price of gold and silver in the metal market and those who get it late.

Finance Minister Khanal said, “Right information flow is necessary for the economy to run in the right way. In some cases, the Right to Information Act does not directly cover the flow of information, but it is addressed by the standards and laws. Due to insider trading in the capital market, some people are getting a monopoly of information. Not all investors are able to make the same decisions at the same time.

Some received the same information 10 days later. If someone gets it in real time, it makes a big difference in the same opportunity and profit. If one businessman gets information in real time about how the price of gold and silver is increasing in the metal market and another businessman gets it after the time has passed, then there is a big difference between the profit and loss between the two. That’s why information is so important.

Right to Information Act alone does not give us the opportunity to search for information. Nepal’s accounting standards are determined by the accounting standards in terms of the business of big companies and the houses of Nepal, which occupy a large size of the economy, how it has affected the common life of the general public, and what kind of information they should disseminate. But I have not heard a single journalist commenting on whether a particular company issued the information as per the auditing standards or not, whether that company issued the information that was supposed to be given in the public issue. There will be other comments, but the journalists have not been able to say whether they have given such information. ’

Khanal said that Nepal’s accounting standards have clearly defined the details of big companies and houses that have a big impact on the economy, their social impact and the details that should be made public. However, he commented that the journalists did not seriously monitor the issue of ÷ companies not disclosing the necessary information. According to Khanal, although equal opportunity is prevalent all over the world, it is not easy to find out how many jobs companies have provided to Dalits, Janajatis and backward classes in Nepal. According to him, there is still a huge potential in the area of disseminating correct information to the citizens.