November 19: Textile manufactures of Nepal have called off their protest against the government decision to remove value added tax (VAT) exemption on textiles. The protest was called off after Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada requested for 10 days time to resolve the problem.

The textile manufacturers had announced of the protest from Saturday saying that they have not been getting positive response from the discussion with the government regarding the Value Added Tax (VAT) debate. The government had announced to cancel the 13 percent VAT refund it had been providing during the budget speech in response to which the manufacturers had claimed that it was hard for them to sustain in the competitive market.

The government had called the protestors for discussion on Sunday, November 18. The indefinite protest by textile manufacturers against the government had direct affected 50,000 employees and around 200,000 family members. 

Sailendra Lal Pradhan, president of Nepal Textile Industries Association (NTIA), informed NBA that the meeting was positive. He said, “The finance minister was positive at the meeting. He has asked for some time to have discussion in the parliament. We are hopeful.”

Textile manufacturers of Nepal had shut down their factories across the nation on Saturday to protest against the government decision to remove value added tax (VAT) exemption on textiles.

The decision came into effect from the starting of the current fiscal year.

The textile manufacturers shut down a total of 250 industries across the nation to pressurize the government to roll back the decision to cancel VAT exemption on textiles.