August 28: Entrepreneurs and industrialists say that the recent prohibitory order issued on August 19 has affected their businesses much more than the four-month lockdown imposed by the government on March…
August 28: Entrepreneurs and industrialists say that the recent prohibitory order issued on August 19 has affected their businesses much more than the four-month lockdown imposed by the government on March…
August 28: The production of the nation’s major industrial corridors has shrunk due to the prohibitory order imposed by the government to control the spread of coronavirus…
August 27: It has been eight years since the government completed feasibility study of metro rail at five different places of the capital,…
August 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is making preparations to resume regular flights from September.…
August 27: The automobile business, which is more vibrant between August to November, has collapsed this…
August 27: Bankers believe that the reason for the decrease in the loan account of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class finance companies is the mergers and acquisitions of finance companies and development banks by commercial…
August 27: Chemical fertilizers that were stranded in Indian ports since the last five months have finally arrived at Birgunj Dry Port.…
August 27: Remittance inflow to Nepal has remained above average in recent months despite widespread speculations that it would decline due to the global impact of Covid-19.…
August 26: District Administration Office, Saptari has issued a prohibitory order to control the spread of coronavirus.…
August 26: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to make the airfare uniform for both foreigners and Nepali nationals during domestic…
August 26: Nepal Rastra Bank has authorised Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to prepare a national payment switch at a time when the country is struggling for affordable and safe electronic transaction due to lack of such…
August 26: Soybean oil has taken the place of refined palm oil as Nepal’s chief export product after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil from Nepal since the last four…
August 25: Coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the external sector of economy despite affecting the country’s economy.…
August 25: Two trains for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway have arrived at Hajipur of…
August 25: Dambar Bahadur Katuwal, a tea farmer in Kanyam, Illam, is ecstatic to get a fair price for…
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During the lockdown period, the government had decided on May 8 to allow 44 different industries to resume operation. Those industries had slowly started returning back to business. They had increased their production capacity after the government eased the restriction. But now, they are facing the same problem once again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Shekhar Golchha says that the industries that were slowly returning to normalcy have again suffered another setback. He agreed that prohibitory order was necessary due to the high risk of infection but said closing industries is not a solution to the problem.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Operating businesses and industries has risk of spreading infection while closing them threatens the economy. Therefore, it is essential to reopen businesses and industries by adopting safety measures and high alertness,” says Golchha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Golchha says although some industries are manufacturing essential goods, they are facing problems in transporting the products to the market. Lack of market means they are forced to stop production. In such a scenario, Golchha fears that many industries will become bankrupt if the current situation persists any longer.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Senior Vice President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Rajendra Malla, says that 40 percent industries were operating in June/July but now almost all of them are closed. He said that economic activities have almost come to a complete halt.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that it is essential to stop the spread of coronavirus but at the same time the government must also facilitate in reopening industries and businesses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Other industrialists say that lack of raw materials due to transportation problem has forced them to downsize their production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Bishnu Neupane, chairman of Saurav Group, which manufactures cement and iron, says they are operating at 15 percent capacity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Industrialists complain that although the federal government has pledged not to halt the transportation service for essential goods, including raw materials for industries, the provincial and local governments have been obstructing vehicular movement upon confirmation of coronavirus cases in their respective areas.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Neupane says that the government has not banned production in industries but complained that the authorities do not facilitate them in sales and supply of their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-28', 'modified' => '2020-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12135', 'image' => '20200828122411_20200810025618_20200415125719_1586906108.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-28 12:23:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrial Corridors Hit Hard by Prohibitory Order ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: The production of the nation’s major industrial corridors has shrunk due to the prohibitory order imposed by the government to control the spread of coronavirus infection.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 28: The production of the nation’s major industrial corridors has shrunk due to the prohibitory order imposed by the government to control the spread of coronavirus infection. The industrial activities, that were returning to normalcy after the government last month lifted the four-month long lockdown, has slowed down recently. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Prohibitory orders have now been imposed in more than 50 districts due to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases. Entrepreneurs say that production has declined as both the center of production and the major markets have been affected. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, senior vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, informed that the production of most of the industries in Bara-Parsa industrial corridor has dropped below 25 percent of their capacity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similar is the condition of Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor. Entrepreneurs say that they have had to cut off 40 percent production capacity after the prohibitory order was imposed following an increase in number of infection in major commercial cities such as Biratnagar, Itahari, Dharan, Damak, and Birtamode of Province 1. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">They further say that the workers in the industries of Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor have stopped coming to work after the infection started appearing among the workers. On one hand, there is fear of infection, and on the other hand the production of the industries has been affected as the workers have stopped coming to the work. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-28', 'modified' => '2020-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12134', 'image' => '20200828014205_1598562717.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-28 13:41:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12386', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Eight Years on, Metro Rail Remains a Pipedream for Kathmanduites', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: It has been eight years since the government completed feasibility study of metro rail at five different places of the capital, Kathmandu.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: It has been eight years since the government completed feasibility study of metro rail at five different places of the capital, Kathmandu. However, investment for the project is yet to be finalized.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">People’s representatives of Kathmandu Metropolitan City as well as the government have been making announcements publicly about setting up the metro rail in five different routes in the capital but the preparation for seeking investment for the project has been limited only to discussions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In 2012, the feasibility study had outlined the possibility of operating metro rail across different areas covering a total distance of 87.18 kilometers. Those routes include Chobhar-Satdobato-Ratna Park-Narayan Gopal Chowk-Buddhanilkantha (22 kilometers), Kirtipur-Kalimati-New Baneshwar-Airport (11.15 kilometers), Koteshwar-Chabahil-Swayambhu (28.53 kilometers), Swayambhu-Dillibazar-Bouddha (11.70 kilometers), and Dhobighat-Singha Durbar-Gongabu (13.80 kilometers).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Department of Railways has so far selected a consultant company for preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Narayan Gopal Chowk-Satdobato section of Chobhar-Satdobato-Ratna Park-Narayan Gopal Chowk-Buddhanilkantha route.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The consultant company was supposed to submit its report within eight months but it has been delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis, informed Director General of the department Balaram Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He further said that the concerned authorities have not held any discussions regarding the establishment of metro rail along the other routes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12133', 'image' => '20200827060607_1598476269.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 18:05:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12385', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing to Resume International Flights Soon', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is making preparations to resume regular flights from September. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">August 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is making preparations to resume regular flights from September. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation as well as CAAN have published the schedule for international flights beginning from September 2. CAAN is making necessary preparations for flight operation safe as per the WHO and ICAO safety protocols.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The ministry on August 26 directed CAAN to resume international flights, including regular and chartered flights. However, public health protocols listed by UN agencies and development partners has to be followed while operating the flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN spokesperson Raj Kumar Chhetri informed that the aviation regulatory body has started necessary preparations in coordination with all stakeholders for resuming regular flights. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">"The flights are taking place. However, the government has decided to operate daily flights from September 2,” he informed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN will adopt various safety standards including time gap between each flight as well as limited number of passengers to avoid the spread of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Airline operators have been preparing their flight plans following the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and CAAN. Airlines also have their own protocols,” Chhetri added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Currently, only chartered flights are allowed to operate mainly for the repatriation of stranded citizens and to bring medical supplies.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12132', 'image' => '20200827042104_1598477546.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 16:20:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12384', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Business Slumps during Peak Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The automobile business, which is more vibrant between August to November, has collapsed this year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 27: The automobile business, which is more vibrant between August to November, has collapsed this year. In the previous years, the automobile operators had a turnover of more than Rs 10 billion during this time period. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic and prohibitory order, this sector is struggling to sustain the business this year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In August, the automobile sector used to be active in the previous years. The automobile dealers used to be busy preparing for NADA Auto Show, Dashain scheme and other programmes. Every year in August, before the arrival of Dashain, the Automobile Association of Nepal (NADA) used to organized the NADA Auto Show. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to NADA chairman Krishna Prasad Dulal, the auto show used to run the automobile business till Dashain. However, due to the pandemic, the auto show will not be held this year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The officials of NADA say that the automobile companies have no plans to come up with any discounts and schemes for Dashain due to the increasing infection and prohibitory order. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the companies, although the sales of four-wheelers were null during the lockdown, the sales of two –wheelers and four-wheelers were increasing. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The companies had expected some relief from the NADA Auto Show, but the prohibitory order has played the spoilsport. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Dulal says that the automobile entrepreneurs, who used to have transaction of around Rs 5 billion till Dashain in the previous years, have been seriously affected this year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“NADA will not happen, but we can’t say what will happen during Dashain without analyzing the upcoming situation,” he said, adding, “If the government does not lift the restriction on automobile sales, the businessmen will have to abandon their business.” </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12131', 'image' => '20200827032601_20170904021624__DSC7854.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 15:25:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12383', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Loan Accounts of Finance Companies and Development Banks Declining', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Bankers believe that the reason for the decrease in the loan account of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class finance companies is the mergers and acquisitions of finance companies and development banks by commercial banks.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 27: Bankers believe that the reason for the decrease in the loan account of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class finance companies is the mergers and acquisitions of finance companies and development banks by commercial banks. There had been a merger between Gandaki Bikas Bank and Mega Bank some time ago. In addition to that, Kumari Bank and Deva Bikas Bank have also merged and started integrated transaction.</span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Commercial banks, which were not able to flow any new credit in the last 3 months (Chaitra, Baishak and Jestha) have given more than 45 thousand loans in Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). The total number of loans given by the 27 commercial banks was 1.15 million at the end of Jestha (mid-June) whereas it became 1.19 million by the end of Ashad (mid-July). However, the number of loans given has decreased for development banks and finance companies in the same period of time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Screen%20Shot%202020-08-27%20at%202.09.34%20PM.png" style="height:347px; width:1023px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data from Nepal Rastra Bank, the total loan account of the 20 development banks has decreased by 26,755 in the month of Ashad. The account that totaled 329,000 in Jestha (mid-May to mid-June) has become 320,000 in Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). However, Pradhyumna Pokharel, the senior vice-president of Nepal Development Bankers’ Association, says that the loans of development banks haven’t been transferred by much to commercial banks. According to him, the mergers and acquisitions between development banks and commercial banks is the reason for the decrease in the number of loan account.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The loan account of the ‘C’ class finance companies has also declined. The loan account of the total 22 finance companies has decreased by 160 in the month of Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). The loan account totaled to 45,489 in the month of Jestha (mid-May to mid-June). Saroj Kaji Tuladhar, the president of Nepal Financial Institutions Association, claimed that some of the debtors have moved to commercial banks because of the low-interest rate loan schemes introduced by the commercial banks due to the high liquidity in banks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Tuladhar, who is also the CEO of Goodwill Finance, said that the interest rates on loans range from 10 percent to 15 percent in finance companies. However, commercial banks are competing for debtors by stating their interest rates as low as 7 percent. He added that some debtors have made a prepayment of their loans because of the lack of business due to the extended lockdown. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Some debtors have searched for cheaper interest rates and swapped their loans. Some of them have paid off their loan using the money they have. There have been no new applications for loan. Therefore, the loan accounts of finance companies have decreased,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The interest rates on loans had decreased by about 2 percent after the banks implemented a single digit base rate from Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). They have also brought schemes that provide a discount on the interest of loans as a relief for those affected by coronavirus. Bankers claim that despite the decline in the interest rates due to the high liquidity, the credit flow has improved a bit. Commercial banks had distributed a loan of Rs 86 billion between mid-June to mid-July last year. The credit flow of the commercial banks was negative during Baisakh and Jestha (between mid-April to mid-June) because of the absence of the flow of new credit.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12130', 'image' => '20200827021155_20200506100208_1588717198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 14:10:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12382', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chemical Fertilizers Finally Arrive in Birgunj', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Chemical fertilizers that were stranded in Indian ports since the last five months have finally arrived at Birgunj Dry Port. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: Chemical fertilizers that were stranded in Indian ports since the last five months have finally arrived at Birgunj Dry Port. Government authorities confirmed that 2,600 metric tons of urea have arrived at Birgunj from Kolkata Port. The fertilizers were sent from Kolkata last week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Salt Trading Corporation has been storing 32,000 metric tons of fertilizers at Kolkata Port. It includes 21,500 tons of fertilizers of last fiscal year and 10,500 metric tons for the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chief of the regional office of Salt Trading Corporation, Birgunj, Amoj Lamichhane informed New Business Age that the urea will be provided to the farmers after customs clearance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“The fertilizers are in the process of entering in Nepal. All the fertilizers at Kolkata will reach Nepal within a few days,” said Lamichhane. The Birgunj office of Salt Trading Corporation supplies fertilizers to 19 districts.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Besides the consignment of 2600 metric tons of urea which arrived at Birgunj through railways, an additional 3900 metric tons of urea have been sent to Nepal through road, according to Laxman Khadka, chief of the Kolkata-based Nepal Transshipment and Warehouse Management Company. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Some of the fertilizers sent through road have entered Nepal through Biratnagar customs point.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Farmers are facing shortage of chemical fertilizers due to the delay in supplying the fertilizers during plantation season by the Salt Trading Corporation and Krishi Samagri Company – the two state-owned companies assigned to oversee the supply of fertilizers. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The fertilizers were stuck at a port in Gujrat for four months before finally arriving at Kolkata port about two weeks ago. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Salt Trading Corporation had purchased the chemical fertilizers from Dubai-based Multi Commodities before the lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The total demand for urea this season is 30,000 metric tons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Farmers require urea after plantation of paddy. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12129', 'image' => '20200827124355_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 12:43:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12381', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Inflow of Remittance Remains Above Average Despite Current Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Remittance inflow to Nepal has remained above average in recent months despite widespread speculations that it would decline due to the global impact of Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: Remittance inflow to Nepal has remained above average in recent months despite widespread speculations that it would decline due to the global impact of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The inflow of remittance was above average in the first month of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-August). Remittance inflow was above average in the previous two months as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal received remittance around Rs 90 billion in mid-July to mid-August, according to Nepal Remitters Association. The figure is 20 percent more compared to the remittance inflow of last fiscal year. During the corresponding period of last FY 2019/20, the inflow of remittance to Nepal was Rs 75.40 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chairman of Nepal Remitters Association, Suman Pokharel, said that the country received remittance of around Rs 90 billion according to their estimate.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“The inflow of remittance during the month of Shrawn (mid-July to mid-August) seems to be above average despite Covid-19 crisis,” said Pokharel.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Nepal Remitters Association, the inflow of remittance during the review period however has declined by 10 percent compared to the previous month (mid-June/mid-July). During that period, Nepal had received remittance of Rs 101 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During normal circumstances, the average inflow of remittance to Nepal is around Rs 73 billion. However, during the first two months of the lockdown imposed in March, the inflow of remittance had dropped below average. However, it has picked up pace again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data kept by Nepal Rastra Bank, the inflow of remittance in Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April) was Rs 34 billion followed by Rs 54 billion in Baishakh (mid-April to mid-May).</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12128', 'image' => '20200827110732_1598476383.2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 11:07:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12380', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prohibitory Order Fueling Black Marketing of Consumer Goods in Saptari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: District Administration Office, Saptari has issued a prohibitory order to control the spread of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 26: District Administration Office, Saptari has issued a prohibitory order to control the spread of coronavirus. However, this prohibitory order has become an opportunity for some traders to cheat the customers and make fast money from them. Customers complain that the traders are selling grocery items at double price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The traders are charging high price to the customers saying that the goods have not been imported as per the demand. Goods like lentil, rice, cooking oil, spices, sugar and biscuits are sold at high price openly. Ramesh Kumar Yadav of Bishnupur rural municipality – 1, says that they are obliged to buy goods at high price as only limited shops are open. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Stating that they are forced to buy essential items in high price, he says, “The daily essential items are openly being sold at high price in the markets of Rajbiraj. Despite this, the local government and administration have not shown any interest to curb this malpractice.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Mayadevi Shah also shares a similar experience. She says that the shopkeepers arbitrarily charge high prices from customers under the pretext of lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> “Teams of police and army come in Rajbiraj every now and then,” she says, “There is a rush to buy goods. Chaos is seen in the market when the police and army teams arrive. So, even though the goods are expensive, we are obliged to buy them.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nagmani Shah of Nagmani grocery store says that the supply of goods in the market is not so easy like before due to the lockdown and as the wholesale price has increased, they have to sell the products in a bit higher price. He admits that the price of oil, sugar, pulses and other goods has slightly increased than the previous month. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shankar Dar, president of Saptari Chamber of Commerce and Industry, claims that there is no shortage of goods in the market. He informed that the monitoring work has been started after they received the information that the goods are being sold at high price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Unnecessary rumors have been spread that goods have been sold at higher prices," he said, adding, “If any shopkeeper is charging high price, let us know immediately. We will take action instantly.” </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12127', 'image' => '20200826025232_20200327122456_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 14:51:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12379', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing to Lower Airfare for Foreigners ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to make the airfare uniform for both foreigners and Nepali nationals during domestic flights.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">August 26: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to make the airfare uniform for both foreigners and Nepali nationals during domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN is preparing to lower the charge for foreigners upon the recommendation of the Airfare Review Committee chaired by Deputy Director-General of CAAN Narendra Thapa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The committee also includes Anoj Rimal, CEO of Yeti Air, and Manoj Karki, managing director of Summit Air.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">However, Nepali airline operators have protested against such a decision informing that the airfare can cost even higher than the current fare if the foreigners will have to pay less than the rate fixed at present. Currently, domestic airlines in Nepal have been charging fares in dollars for foreigners on all the domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Airline operators inform that they are providing their air transportation service to Nepali passengers at a concessional rate because they make up for the loss by charging dollars with foreigners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The committee has made a proposal with the provision for airline operators to charge high fare for foreigners only for flights to Bharatpur in Chitwan, Jomsom in Mustang, Pokhara in Kaski, Lukla in Solukhumbu and Tumlingtar Airport in Sankhuwasabha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Minister for Tourism Yogesh Bhattarai while addressing the annual progress report of the last fiscal year at the ministry on Tuesday informed that preparations are underway to lower the airfare for foreigners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12126', 'image' => '20200826024213_1598389402.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 14:41:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12378', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NCHL Conducting Feasibility Study for National Payment Switch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: Nepal Rastra Bank has authorised Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to prepare a national payment switch at a time when the country is struggling for affordable and safe electronic transaction due to lack of such switch.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 26: Nepal Rastra Bank has authorised Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to prepare a national payment switch at a time when the country is struggling for affordable and safe electronic transaction due to lack of such switch.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The central bank assigned the job to NCHL about a month ago. NCHL has already started feasibility study for establishing the national payment gateway. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chief Executive of NCHL Nilesh Man Singh Pradhan says they will discuss about the modality of the payment switch after the feasibility study gets completed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have been paying hefty price for digital transaction through international payment gateway like Visa and MasterCard due to lack of Nepal’s own payment gateway. The switch is crucial for connecting all the institutions involved in electronic transaction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Currently, banks have been relying on international switch for the payment through debit and credit cards as well as for the use of ATMs. Some banks have made their own switch for this purpose.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal Rastra Bank has been paying Rs 12 per transaction to the operators of foreign switch, according to NRB Spokesperson Gunakar Bhatta.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal Rastra Bank had prepared a report on the National Payment Gateway in April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">NRB had formed a five-member committee headed by Subash Ghimire, director of the Payments System Department, to prepare the report after the finance ministry instructed the central bank to establish a national switch for electronic payment through banks. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A representative each from the finance ministry, Financial Comptroller General’s Office, Information Technology Centre and Nepal Bankers’ Association were the members of the committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The report had provided various suggestions to the central bank regarding the operation process of the payment gateway. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The national switch of NRB will incorporate revenue collection and payment of the government in the first phase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In the second phase, the central bank plans to bring all the payments across the country under a single channel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12125', 'image' => '20200826122725_1598389522.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 12:26:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12377', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Soybean Oil Replaces Palm Oil as Nepal’s Major Export Product', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: Soybean oil has taken the place of refined palm oil as Nepal’s chief export product after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil from Nepal since the last four months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 26: Soybean oil has taken the place of refined palm oil as Nepal’s chief export product after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil from Nepal since the last four months.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data kept by the Department of Customs, Nepal exported soybean oil worth Rs 2.27 billion in the first month of the current fiscal year. India is the major market of soybean oil produced in Nepal. The export of soybean oil to India in the first month of FY 2020/21 increased by five folds compared to the export during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In the first month of FY 2019/20, Nepal had exported soybean oil worth Rs 450 million to India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the last fiscal year, refined palm oil topped the list of products exported to India from Nepal. In FY 2019/20, Nepal exported refined palm oil worth Rs 19.31 billion to India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">However, the Department of Foreign Trade of India in May revoked the license of palm oil importers in the country due to which Nepali exporters were unable to sell the product in the Indian market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the operator of OCB Foods, Suresh Rungata, his industry has scaled up manufacturing soybean oil after India halted the export of palm oil from Nepal. He informed New Business Age that soybean oil accounts for more than 50 percent of the total production in the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“We opted for production of soybean and sunflower oils as an alternative to palm oil after India imposed the ban,” says Rungata.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Pradeep Muraraka, a businessman based in Biratnagar, says the demand for soybean oil has been increasing in the recent days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Although all industries are not operating in full capacity due to coronavirus pandemic, those that are operational have received high demand for soybean oil,” said Muraraka.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Industries in Nepal basically import crude soybean oil from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Indonesia and Ukraine. They then refine the oil and export it to India and third countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Besides soybean oil, other major export products of Nepal in the first month of the current fiscal year were tea, cardamom and carpet.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12124', 'image' => '20200826113011_1598389808.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 11:29:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12376', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Balance of Payment in Surplus due to Coronavirus Pandemic', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the external sector of economy despite affecting the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">August 25: Coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the external sector of economy despite affecting the country’s economy. Nepal’s Balance of Payment (BoP) surplus reached Rs 282 billion in the last fiscal year due to the decline in imports while the remittance did not decrease as estimated. A report published by the Nepal Rastra Bank on Monday which sheds light on the economic situation of the country in the last fiscal year showed that the Balance of Payment surplus has increased significantly.</span></span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although the country’s exports were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it also decreased the imports. Nepal’s imports decreased by 15.6 percent to Rs 1196 billion in the last fiscal year as compared to the previous year. The imports had increased by 13.9 percent in the fiscal year 2075/76.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Imports of crude palm oil, soybean, chemical fertilizers, edible oils, computers and its spare parts had increased whereas the imports of petroleum products, means of transportation and their spare parts, MS billets, gold, other machinery and their spare parts had declined in the last fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s exports improved by 0.6 percent during the review period. Nepal exported goods worth Rs 97.71 billion in the last fiscal year. Exports of palm oil, ayurvedic medicines, herbs, plastic utensils, fruits and other items increased while the exports of CGI sheets, wire, polyester yarn and threads, readymade garments, carpets have decreased in the recent times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Contraction of Trade Deficit</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The trade deficit shrunk by 16.8 percent to Rs 1099.9 billion in the fiscal year 2076/77. The deficit had increased by 13.5 percent in the previous year. The ratio of trade deficit to GDP is 29.2 percent. The ratio of export to import has become 8.2 percent in the year under review. This ratio was 6.8 percent in the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Improvement on Foreign Exchange Reserves</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The foreign exchange reserves have improved by 35 percent amounting to Rs 141 billion. The current reserves will be enough to support the imports of 14.4 months’ worth of goods and 12.7 months’ worth of goods and services.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, the current account deficit has decreased from Rs 265.37 billion in the previous year to Rs 32.6 billion last year by 87.9 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Remittance Income Did Not Decrease by Much</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The remittance income has decreased by much less than it was estimated due to coronavirus. Remittance declined by 0.5 percent. The total remittance inflow was Rs 875.3 billion in the last fiscal year. Remittance decreased by 3.3 percent in terms of American dollars. Under normal circumstances, Nepal, in an average has an inflow of remittance of around Rs 73 billion per month. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Increased Inflation</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The rate of inflation was 6.15 percent in the fiscal year 2076/77. According to the annual report published by Nepal Rastra Bank, the average rate of annual inflation on food and beverages has increased by 8.16 percent. The inflation rate was limited to 3.9 percent in the fiscal year 2076/77. Similarly, the rate of inflation on non-food and services group has reached 4.61 percent. The group had an inflation rate of 5.86 percent in the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Gunakar Bhatts, spokesperson for Nepal Rastra Bank, said that even though the overall annual inflation had increased, it declined to some extent till mid-July. However, he expressed that the lockdown since the past 4 months has caused a loss of business for everyone and has decreased the consumption capacity due to the lack of income.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Surplus on Balance of Services</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Balance of Services are in surplus because of the decline in the visit of foreign countries for travel as well as for education in their universities. The net balance of services was in surplus of Rs 1.22 billion in the fiscal year 2076/77 when it was in deficit of Rs 15.23 billion in the previous year. Meanwhile, the travel expenditure account has decreased by 40.1 percent to Rs 53.14 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12123', 'image' => '20200825044730_115237_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 16:47:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12373', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Train Engines and Carriages for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway arrive at Patna', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Two trains for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway have arrived at Hajipur of Patna.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">August 25: Two trains for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway have arrived at Hajipur of Patna. The train carriages and engines were manufactured by India’s International Coach Factory at a cost of Rs 860 million. The trains have been stranded in Patna due to the crisis created by coronavirus. The pandemic has cast uncertainty over the operation of the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Nepal has paid 20 percent amount for the two trains. The remaining amount will be paid after test operation in Nepal, informed Director General of the Department of Railways, Balaram Mishra. The two trains have the capacity to carry 2,600 people (1,300 each).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The underconstruction Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardibas Railway is 69 kilometers long. A 34-kilometer section of the railway track between Janakpur and Jayanagar is already complete. The trains will be operated along this section for the time being.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Nepal is planning to bring technicians from Indian on contract basis for the operation of the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Director General Mishra informed that they have reached an understanding with the Indian Railway Board in a recent virtual meeting that the trains would be handed over to Nepal within mid-September. However, he added that the date might be postponed if the current situation persists.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The railways department is preparing to announce vacancy for human resource required to operate the trains. The selected candidates would be sent to India for training, said Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport had earlier sent around a dozen employees to China for training related to railway construction. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The government will have to bear additional cost to pay the Indian technicians for operating the trains for the time being on top of the training expenses of its own employees.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The Indian company has given one year’s guarantee for the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12122', 'image' => '20200825030614_1598305318.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 15:05:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12372', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Farmers get Good Price for Tea Leaves this Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Dambar Bahadur Katuwal, a tea farmer in Kanyam, Illam, is ecstatic to get a fair price for tea.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 25: Dambar Bahadur Katuwal, a tea farmer in Kanyam, Illam, is ecstatic to get a fair price for tea. Tea farmers like Katuwal, who were worried that the lockdown might affect their sales, are now excited as the industries have bought tea for Rs 40 per kg from them. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Suryodaya municipality has fixed a minimum price of tea for farmers at Rs 40. Although some industrialists protested against the pricing of the tea, the tea industry has started buying green leaves at Rs 40 with the farmers after they started going to Darjeeling without processing. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The green leaves are being sold at more than Rs 40 per kg in Illam and Jhapa. Besides orthodox tea, the leaves are plucked for CTC tea. The first tea leaves are used to make green tea for third countries. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">CTC tea is made from the leaves plucked after that. Tea farmers say that even the lowest quality tea leaves are being sold at Rs 30 per kg. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June is considered the middle of tea picking season which starts from April. Since most tea leaves are produced in the mid season, its price tends to be cheaper. However, this time the farmers are relieved as the price of tea has increased at a time when it usually decreases. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shiva Kumar Gupta, manager of Bharatpur-based Star Tea Industry, who has been involved in tea business for two decades, says that he is buying the green leaves at Rs 20 to Rs 22 for manufacturing CTC tea throughout the year in the industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He claims that the price hike this year is highest than previous years. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, the price of green leaves has increased after an increase in demand for Nepali tea in Indian market. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Indian traders have been buying CTC tea at Rs 250 to Rs 300 per kg. The price is double than that of last year. During last year, the price of CTC tea was Rs 130 per kg. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12121', 'image' => '20200825014401_1598303364.1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 13:43:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prohibitory Order More Hazardous to Industries than Lockdown', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: Entrepreneurs and industrialists say that the recent prohibitory order issued on August 19 has affected their businesses much more than the four-month lockdown imposed by the government on March 24.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 28: Entrepreneurs and industrialists say that the recent prohibitory order issued on August 19 has affected their businesses much more than the four-month lockdown imposed by the government on March 24.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They claim that 75 percent of their businesses have come to a halt due to lack of consumption and production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The lockdown imposed by the government on March 24 was lifted almost after four months on July 21. During the lockdown period, the government had decided on May 8 to allow 44 different industries to resume operation. Those industries had slowly started returning back to business. They had increased their production capacity after the government eased the restriction. But now, they are facing the same problem once again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Shekhar Golchha says that the industries that were slowly returning to normalcy have again suffered another setback. He agreed that prohibitory order was necessary due to the high risk of infection but said closing industries is not a solution to the problem.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Operating businesses and industries has risk of spreading infection while closing them threatens the economy. Therefore, it is essential to reopen businesses and industries by adopting safety measures and high alertness,” says Golchha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Golchha says although some industries are manufacturing essential goods, they are facing problems in transporting the products to the market. Lack of market means they are forced to stop production. In such a scenario, Golchha fears that many industries will become bankrupt if the current situation persists any longer.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Senior Vice President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Rajendra Malla, says that 40 percent industries were operating in June/July but now almost all of them are closed. He said that economic activities have almost come to a complete halt.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that it is essential to stop the spread of coronavirus but at the same time the government must also facilitate in reopening industries and businesses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Other industrialists say that lack of raw materials due to transportation problem has forced them to downsize their production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Bishnu Neupane, chairman of Saurav Group, which manufactures cement and iron, says they are operating at 15 percent capacity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Industrialists complain that although the federal government has pledged not to halt the transportation service for essential goods, including raw materials for industries, the provincial and local governments have been obstructing vehicular movement upon confirmation of coronavirus cases in their respective areas.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Neupane says that the government has not banned production in industries but complained that the authorities do not facilitate them in sales and supply of their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-28', 'modified' => '2020-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12135', 'image' => '20200828122411_20200810025618_20200415125719_1586906108.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-28 12:23:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrial Corridors Hit Hard by Prohibitory Order ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: The production of the nation’s major industrial corridors has shrunk due to the prohibitory order imposed by the government to control the spread of coronavirus infection.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 28: The production of the nation’s major industrial corridors has shrunk due to the prohibitory order imposed by the government to control the spread of coronavirus infection. The industrial activities, that were returning to normalcy after the government last month lifted the four-month long lockdown, has slowed down recently. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Prohibitory orders have now been imposed in more than 50 districts due to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases. Entrepreneurs say that production has declined as both the center of production and the major markets have been affected. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, senior vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, informed that the production of most of the industries in Bara-Parsa industrial corridor has dropped below 25 percent of their capacity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similar is the condition of Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor. Entrepreneurs say that they have had to cut off 40 percent production capacity after the prohibitory order was imposed following an increase in number of infection in major commercial cities such as Biratnagar, Itahari, Dharan, Damak, and Birtamode of Province 1. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">They further say that the workers in the industries of Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor have stopped coming to work after the infection started appearing among the workers. On one hand, there is fear of infection, and on the other hand the production of the industries has been affected as the workers have stopped coming to the work. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-28', 'modified' => '2020-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12134', 'image' => '20200828014205_1598562717.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-28 13:41:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12386', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Eight Years on, Metro Rail Remains a Pipedream for Kathmanduites', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: It has been eight years since the government completed feasibility study of metro rail at five different places of the capital, Kathmandu.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: It has been eight years since the government completed feasibility study of metro rail at five different places of the capital, Kathmandu. However, investment for the project is yet to be finalized.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">People’s representatives of Kathmandu Metropolitan City as well as the government have been making announcements publicly about setting up the metro rail in five different routes in the capital but the preparation for seeking investment for the project has been limited only to discussions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In 2012, the feasibility study had outlined the possibility of operating metro rail across different areas covering a total distance of 87.18 kilometers. Those routes include Chobhar-Satdobato-Ratna Park-Narayan Gopal Chowk-Buddhanilkantha (22 kilometers), Kirtipur-Kalimati-New Baneshwar-Airport (11.15 kilometers), Koteshwar-Chabahil-Swayambhu (28.53 kilometers), Swayambhu-Dillibazar-Bouddha (11.70 kilometers), and Dhobighat-Singha Durbar-Gongabu (13.80 kilometers).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Department of Railways has so far selected a consultant company for preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Narayan Gopal Chowk-Satdobato section of Chobhar-Satdobato-Ratna Park-Narayan Gopal Chowk-Buddhanilkantha route.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The consultant company was supposed to submit its report within eight months but it has been delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis, informed Director General of the department Balaram Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He further said that the concerned authorities have not held any discussions regarding the establishment of metro rail along the other routes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12133', 'image' => '20200827060607_1598476269.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 18:05:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12385', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing to Resume International Flights Soon', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is making preparations to resume regular flights from September. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">August 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is making preparations to resume regular flights from September. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation as well as CAAN have published the schedule for international flights beginning from September 2. CAAN is making necessary preparations for flight operation safe as per the WHO and ICAO safety protocols.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The ministry on August 26 directed CAAN to resume international flights, including regular and chartered flights. However, public health protocols listed by UN agencies and development partners has to be followed while operating the flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN spokesperson Raj Kumar Chhetri informed that the aviation regulatory body has started necessary preparations in coordination with all stakeholders for resuming regular flights. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">"The flights are taking place. However, the government has decided to operate daily flights from September 2,” he informed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN will adopt various safety standards including time gap between each flight as well as limited number of passengers to avoid the spread of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Airline operators have been preparing their flight plans following the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and CAAN. Airlines also have their own protocols,” Chhetri added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Currently, only chartered flights are allowed to operate mainly for the repatriation of stranded citizens and to bring medical supplies.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12132', 'image' => '20200827042104_1598477546.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 16:20:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12384', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Business Slumps during Peak Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The automobile business, which is more vibrant between August to November, has collapsed this year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 27: The automobile business, which is more vibrant between August to November, has collapsed this year. In the previous years, the automobile operators had a turnover of more than Rs 10 billion during this time period. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic and prohibitory order, this sector is struggling to sustain the business this year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In August, the automobile sector used to be active in the previous years. The automobile dealers used to be busy preparing for NADA Auto Show, Dashain scheme and other programmes. Every year in August, before the arrival of Dashain, the Automobile Association of Nepal (NADA) used to organized the NADA Auto Show. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to NADA chairman Krishna Prasad Dulal, the auto show used to run the automobile business till Dashain. However, due to the pandemic, the auto show will not be held this year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The officials of NADA say that the automobile companies have no plans to come up with any discounts and schemes for Dashain due to the increasing infection and prohibitory order. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the companies, although the sales of four-wheelers were null during the lockdown, the sales of two –wheelers and four-wheelers were increasing. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The companies had expected some relief from the NADA Auto Show, but the prohibitory order has played the spoilsport. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Dulal says that the automobile entrepreneurs, who used to have transaction of around Rs 5 billion till Dashain in the previous years, have been seriously affected this year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“NADA will not happen, but we can’t say what will happen during Dashain without analyzing the upcoming situation,” he said, adding, “If the government does not lift the restriction on automobile sales, the businessmen will have to abandon their business.” </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12131', 'image' => '20200827032601_20170904021624__DSC7854.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 15:25:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12383', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Loan Accounts of Finance Companies and Development Banks Declining', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Bankers believe that the reason for the decrease in the loan account of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class finance companies is the mergers and acquisitions of finance companies and development banks by commercial banks.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 27: Bankers believe that the reason for the decrease in the loan account of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class finance companies is the mergers and acquisitions of finance companies and development banks by commercial banks. There had been a merger between Gandaki Bikas Bank and Mega Bank some time ago. In addition to that, Kumari Bank and Deva Bikas Bank have also merged and started integrated transaction.</span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Commercial banks, which were not able to flow any new credit in the last 3 months (Chaitra, Baishak and Jestha) have given more than 45 thousand loans in Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). The total number of loans given by the 27 commercial banks was 1.15 million at the end of Jestha (mid-June) whereas it became 1.19 million by the end of Ashad (mid-July). However, the number of loans given has decreased for development banks and finance companies in the same period of time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Screen%20Shot%202020-08-27%20at%202.09.34%20PM.png" style="height:347px; width:1023px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data from Nepal Rastra Bank, the total loan account of the 20 development banks has decreased by 26,755 in the month of Ashad. The account that totaled 329,000 in Jestha (mid-May to mid-June) has become 320,000 in Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). However, Pradhyumna Pokharel, the senior vice-president of Nepal Development Bankers’ Association, says that the loans of development banks haven’t been transferred by much to commercial banks. According to him, the mergers and acquisitions between development banks and commercial banks is the reason for the decrease in the number of loan account.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The loan account of the ‘C’ class finance companies has also declined. The loan account of the total 22 finance companies has decreased by 160 in the month of Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). The loan account totaled to 45,489 in the month of Jestha (mid-May to mid-June). Saroj Kaji Tuladhar, the president of Nepal Financial Institutions Association, claimed that some of the debtors have moved to commercial banks because of the low-interest rate loan schemes introduced by the commercial banks due to the high liquidity in banks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Tuladhar, who is also the CEO of Goodwill Finance, said that the interest rates on loans range from 10 percent to 15 percent in finance companies. However, commercial banks are competing for debtors by stating their interest rates as low as 7 percent. He added that some debtors have made a prepayment of their loans because of the lack of business due to the extended lockdown. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Some debtors have searched for cheaper interest rates and swapped their loans. Some of them have paid off their loan using the money they have. There have been no new applications for loan. Therefore, the loan accounts of finance companies have decreased,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The interest rates on loans had decreased by about 2 percent after the banks implemented a single digit base rate from Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). They have also brought schemes that provide a discount on the interest of loans as a relief for those affected by coronavirus. Bankers claim that despite the decline in the interest rates due to the high liquidity, the credit flow has improved a bit. Commercial banks had distributed a loan of Rs 86 billion between mid-June to mid-July last year. The credit flow of the commercial banks was negative during Baisakh and Jestha (between mid-April to mid-June) because of the absence of the flow of new credit.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12130', 'image' => '20200827021155_20200506100208_1588717198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 14:10:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12382', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chemical Fertilizers Finally Arrive in Birgunj', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Chemical fertilizers that were stranded in Indian ports since the last five months have finally arrived at Birgunj Dry Port. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: Chemical fertilizers that were stranded in Indian ports since the last five months have finally arrived at Birgunj Dry Port. Government authorities confirmed that 2,600 metric tons of urea have arrived at Birgunj from Kolkata Port. The fertilizers were sent from Kolkata last week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Salt Trading Corporation has been storing 32,000 metric tons of fertilizers at Kolkata Port. It includes 21,500 tons of fertilizers of last fiscal year and 10,500 metric tons for the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chief of the regional office of Salt Trading Corporation, Birgunj, Amoj Lamichhane informed New Business Age that the urea will be provided to the farmers after customs clearance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“The fertilizers are in the process of entering in Nepal. All the fertilizers at Kolkata will reach Nepal within a few days,” said Lamichhane. The Birgunj office of Salt Trading Corporation supplies fertilizers to 19 districts.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Besides the consignment of 2600 metric tons of urea which arrived at Birgunj through railways, an additional 3900 metric tons of urea have been sent to Nepal through road, according to Laxman Khadka, chief of the Kolkata-based Nepal Transshipment and Warehouse Management Company. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Some of the fertilizers sent through road have entered Nepal through Biratnagar customs point.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Farmers are facing shortage of chemical fertilizers due to the delay in supplying the fertilizers during plantation season by the Salt Trading Corporation and Krishi Samagri Company – the two state-owned companies assigned to oversee the supply of fertilizers. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The fertilizers were stuck at a port in Gujrat for four months before finally arriving at Kolkata port about two weeks ago. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Salt Trading Corporation had purchased the chemical fertilizers from Dubai-based Multi Commodities before the lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The total demand for urea this season is 30,000 metric tons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Farmers require urea after plantation of paddy. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12129', 'image' => '20200827124355_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 12:43:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12381', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Inflow of Remittance Remains Above Average Despite Current Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Remittance inflow to Nepal has remained above average in recent months despite widespread speculations that it would decline due to the global impact of Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: Remittance inflow to Nepal has remained above average in recent months despite widespread speculations that it would decline due to the global impact of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The inflow of remittance was above average in the first month of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-August). Remittance inflow was above average in the previous two months as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal received remittance around Rs 90 billion in mid-July to mid-August, according to Nepal Remitters Association. The figure is 20 percent more compared to the remittance inflow of last fiscal year. During the corresponding period of last FY 2019/20, the inflow of remittance to Nepal was Rs 75.40 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chairman of Nepal Remitters Association, Suman Pokharel, said that the country received remittance of around Rs 90 billion according to their estimate.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“The inflow of remittance during the month of Shrawn (mid-July to mid-August) seems to be above average despite Covid-19 crisis,” said Pokharel.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Nepal Remitters Association, the inflow of remittance during the review period however has declined by 10 percent compared to the previous month (mid-June/mid-July). During that period, Nepal had received remittance of Rs 101 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During normal circumstances, the average inflow of remittance to Nepal is around Rs 73 billion. However, during the first two months of the lockdown imposed in March, the inflow of remittance had dropped below average. However, it has picked up pace again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data kept by Nepal Rastra Bank, the inflow of remittance in Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April) was Rs 34 billion followed by Rs 54 billion in Baishakh (mid-April to mid-May).</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12128', 'image' => '20200827110732_1598476383.2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 11:07:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12380', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prohibitory Order Fueling Black Marketing of Consumer Goods in Saptari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: District Administration Office, Saptari has issued a prohibitory order to control the spread of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 26: District Administration Office, Saptari has issued a prohibitory order to control the spread of coronavirus. However, this prohibitory order has become an opportunity for some traders to cheat the customers and make fast money from them. Customers complain that the traders are selling grocery items at double price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The traders are charging high price to the customers saying that the goods have not been imported as per the demand. Goods like lentil, rice, cooking oil, spices, sugar and biscuits are sold at high price openly. Ramesh Kumar Yadav of Bishnupur rural municipality – 1, says that they are obliged to buy goods at high price as only limited shops are open. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Stating that they are forced to buy essential items in high price, he says, “The daily essential items are openly being sold at high price in the markets of Rajbiraj. Despite this, the local government and administration have not shown any interest to curb this malpractice.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Mayadevi Shah also shares a similar experience. She says that the shopkeepers arbitrarily charge high prices from customers under the pretext of lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> “Teams of police and army come in Rajbiraj every now and then,” she says, “There is a rush to buy goods. Chaos is seen in the market when the police and army teams arrive. So, even though the goods are expensive, we are obliged to buy them.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nagmani Shah of Nagmani grocery store says that the supply of goods in the market is not so easy like before due to the lockdown and as the wholesale price has increased, they have to sell the products in a bit higher price. He admits that the price of oil, sugar, pulses and other goods has slightly increased than the previous month. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shankar Dar, president of Saptari Chamber of Commerce and Industry, claims that there is no shortage of goods in the market. He informed that the monitoring work has been started after they received the information that the goods are being sold at high price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Unnecessary rumors have been spread that goods have been sold at higher prices," he said, adding, “If any shopkeeper is charging high price, let us know immediately. We will take action instantly.” </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12127', 'image' => '20200826025232_20200327122456_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 14:51:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12379', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing to Lower Airfare for Foreigners ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to make the airfare uniform for both foreigners and Nepali nationals during domestic flights.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">August 26: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to make the airfare uniform for both foreigners and Nepali nationals during domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN is preparing to lower the charge for foreigners upon the recommendation of the Airfare Review Committee chaired by Deputy Director-General of CAAN Narendra Thapa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The committee also includes Anoj Rimal, CEO of Yeti Air, and Manoj Karki, managing director of Summit Air.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">However, Nepali airline operators have protested against such a decision informing that the airfare can cost even higher than the current fare if the foreigners will have to pay less than the rate fixed at present. Currently, domestic airlines in Nepal have been charging fares in dollars for foreigners on all the domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Airline operators inform that they are providing their air transportation service to Nepali passengers at a concessional rate because they make up for the loss by charging dollars with foreigners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The committee has made a proposal with the provision for airline operators to charge high fare for foreigners only for flights to Bharatpur in Chitwan, Jomsom in Mustang, Pokhara in Kaski, Lukla in Solukhumbu and Tumlingtar Airport in Sankhuwasabha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Minister for Tourism Yogesh Bhattarai while addressing the annual progress report of the last fiscal year at the ministry on Tuesday informed that preparations are underway to lower the airfare for foreigners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12126', 'image' => '20200826024213_1598389402.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 14:41:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12378', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NCHL Conducting Feasibility Study for National Payment Switch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: Nepal Rastra Bank has authorised Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to prepare a national payment switch at a time when the country is struggling for affordable and safe electronic transaction due to lack of such switch.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 26: Nepal Rastra Bank has authorised Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to prepare a national payment switch at a time when the country is struggling for affordable and safe electronic transaction due to lack of such switch.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The central bank assigned the job to NCHL about a month ago. NCHL has already started feasibility study for establishing the national payment gateway. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chief Executive of NCHL Nilesh Man Singh Pradhan says they will discuss about the modality of the payment switch after the feasibility study gets completed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have been paying hefty price for digital transaction through international payment gateway like Visa and MasterCard due to lack of Nepal’s own payment gateway. The switch is crucial for connecting all the institutions involved in electronic transaction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Currently, banks have been relying on international switch for the payment through debit and credit cards as well as for the use of ATMs. Some banks have made their own switch for this purpose.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal Rastra Bank has been paying Rs 12 per transaction to the operators of foreign switch, according to NRB Spokesperson Gunakar Bhatta.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal Rastra Bank had prepared a report on the National Payment Gateway in April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">NRB had formed a five-member committee headed by Subash Ghimire, director of the Payments System Department, to prepare the report after the finance ministry instructed the central bank to establish a national switch for electronic payment through banks. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A representative each from the finance ministry, Financial Comptroller General’s Office, Information Technology Centre and Nepal Bankers’ Association were the members of the committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The report had provided various suggestions to the central bank regarding the operation process of the payment gateway. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The national switch of NRB will incorporate revenue collection and payment of the government in the first phase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In the second phase, the central bank plans to bring all the payments across the country under a single channel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12125', 'image' => '20200826122725_1598389522.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 12:26:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12377', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Soybean Oil Replaces Palm Oil as Nepal’s Major Export Product', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: Soybean oil has taken the place of refined palm oil as Nepal’s chief export product after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil from Nepal since the last four months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 26: Soybean oil has taken the place of refined palm oil as Nepal’s chief export product after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil from Nepal since the last four months.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data kept by the Department of Customs, Nepal exported soybean oil worth Rs 2.27 billion in the first month of the current fiscal year. India is the major market of soybean oil produced in Nepal. The export of soybean oil to India in the first month of FY 2020/21 increased by five folds compared to the export during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In the first month of FY 2019/20, Nepal had exported soybean oil worth Rs 450 million to India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the last fiscal year, refined palm oil topped the list of products exported to India from Nepal. In FY 2019/20, Nepal exported refined palm oil worth Rs 19.31 billion to India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">However, the Department of Foreign Trade of India in May revoked the license of palm oil importers in the country due to which Nepali exporters were unable to sell the product in the Indian market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the operator of OCB Foods, Suresh Rungata, his industry has scaled up manufacturing soybean oil after India halted the export of palm oil from Nepal. He informed New Business Age that soybean oil accounts for more than 50 percent of the total production in the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“We opted for production of soybean and sunflower oils as an alternative to palm oil after India imposed the ban,” says Rungata.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Pradeep Muraraka, a businessman based in Biratnagar, says the demand for soybean oil has been increasing in the recent days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Although all industries are not operating in full capacity due to coronavirus pandemic, those that are operational have received high demand for soybean oil,” said Muraraka.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Industries in Nepal basically import crude soybean oil from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Indonesia and Ukraine. They then refine the oil and export it to India and third countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Besides soybean oil, other major export products of Nepal in the first month of the current fiscal year were tea, cardamom and carpet.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12124', 'image' => '20200826113011_1598389808.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 11:29:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12376', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Balance of Payment in Surplus due to Coronavirus Pandemic', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the external sector of economy despite affecting the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">August 25: Coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the external sector of economy despite affecting the country’s economy. Nepal’s Balance of Payment (BoP) surplus reached Rs 282 billion in the last fiscal year due to the decline in imports while the remittance did not decrease as estimated. A report published by the Nepal Rastra Bank on Monday which sheds light on the economic situation of the country in the last fiscal year showed that the Balance of Payment surplus has increased significantly.</span></span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although the country’s exports were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it also decreased the imports. Nepal’s imports decreased by 15.6 percent to Rs 1196 billion in the last fiscal year as compared to the previous year. The imports had increased by 13.9 percent in the fiscal year 2075/76.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Imports of crude palm oil, soybean, chemical fertilizers, edible oils, computers and its spare parts had increased whereas the imports of petroleum products, means of transportation and their spare parts, MS billets, gold, other machinery and their spare parts had declined in the last fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s exports improved by 0.6 percent during the review period. Nepal exported goods worth Rs 97.71 billion in the last fiscal year. Exports of palm oil, ayurvedic medicines, herbs, plastic utensils, fruits and other items increased while the exports of CGI sheets, wire, polyester yarn and threads, readymade garments, carpets have decreased in the recent times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Contraction of Trade Deficit</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The trade deficit shrunk by 16.8 percent to Rs 1099.9 billion in the fiscal year 2076/77. The deficit had increased by 13.5 percent in the previous year. The ratio of trade deficit to GDP is 29.2 percent. The ratio of export to import has become 8.2 percent in the year under review. This ratio was 6.8 percent in the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Improvement on Foreign Exchange Reserves</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The foreign exchange reserves have improved by 35 percent amounting to Rs 141 billion. The current reserves will be enough to support the imports of 14.4 months’ worth of goods and 12.7 months’ worth of goods and services.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, the current account deficit has decreased from Rs 265.37 billion in the previous year to Rs 32.6 billion last year by 87.9 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Remittance Income Did Not Decrease by Much</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The remittance income has decreased by much less than it was estimated due to coronavirus. Remittance declined by 0.5 percent. The total remittance inflow was Rs 875.3 billion in the last fiscal year. Remittance decreased by 3.3 percent in terms of American dollars. Under normal circumstances, Nepal, in an average has an inflow of remittance of around Rs 73 billion per month. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Increased Inflation</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The rate of inflation was 6.15 percent in the fiscal year 2076/77. According to the annual report published by Nepal Rastra Bank, the average rate of annual inflation on food and beverages has increased by 8.16 percent. The inflation rate was limited to 3.9 percent in the fiscal year 2076/77. Similarly, the rate of inflation on non-food and services group has reached 4.61 percent. The group had an inflation rate of 5.86 percent in the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Gunakar Bhatts, spokesperson for Nepal Rastra Bank, said that even though the overall annual inflation had increased, it declined to some extent till mid-July. However, he expressed that the lockdown since the past 4 months has caused a loss of business for everyone and has decreased the consumption capacity due to the lack of income.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Surplus on Balance of Services</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Balance of Services are in surplus because of the decline in the visit of foreign countries for travel as well as for education in their universities. The net balance of services was in surplus of Rs 1.22 billion in the fiscal year 2076/77 when it was in deficit of Rs 15.23 billion in the previous year. Meanwhile, the travel expenditure account has decreased by 40.1 percent to Rs 53.14 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12123', 'image' => '20200825044730_115237_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 16:47:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12373', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Train Engines and Carriages for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway arrive at Patna', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Two trains for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway have arrived at Hajipur of Patna.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">August 25: Two trains for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway have arrived at Hajipur of Patna. The train carriages and engines were manufactured by India’s International Coach Factory at a cost of Rs 860 million. The trains have been stranded in Patna due to the crisis created by coronavirus. The pandemic has cast uncertainty over the operation of the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Nepal has paid 20 percent amount for the two trains. The remaining amount will be paid after test operation in Nepal, informed Director General of the Department of Railways, Balaram Mishra. The two trains have the capacity to carry 2,600 people (1,300 each).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The underconstruction Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardibas Railway is 69 kilometers long. A 34-kilometer section of the railway track between Janakpur and Jayanagar is already complete. The trains will be operated along this section for the time being.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Nepal is planning to bring technicians from Indian on contract basis for the operation of the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Director General Mishra informed that they have reached an understanding with the Indian Railway Board in a recent virtual meeting that the trains would be handed over to Nepal within mid-September. However, he added that the date might be postponed if the current situation persists.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The railways department is preparing to announce vacancy for human resource required to operate the trains. The selected candidates would be sent to India for training, said Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport had earlier sent around a dozen employees to China for training related to railway construction. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The government will have to bear additional cost to pay the Indian technicians for operating the trains for the time being on top of the training expenses of its own employees.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The Indian company has given one year’s guarantee for the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12122', 'image' => '20200825030614_1598305318.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 15:05:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12372', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Farmers get Good Price for Tea Leaves this Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Dambar Bahadur Katuwal, a tea farmer in Kanyam, Illam, is ecstatic to get a fair price for tea.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 25: Dambar Bahadur Katuwal, a tea farmer in Kanyam, Illam, is ecstatic to get a fair price for tea. Tea farmers like Katuwal, who were worried that the lockdown might affect their sales, are now excited as the industries have bought tea for Rs 40 per kg from them. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Suryodaya municipality has fixed a minimum price of tea for farmers at Rs 40. Although some industrialists protested against the pricing of the tea, the tea industry has started buying green leaves at Rs 40 with the farmers after they started going to Darjeeling without processing. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The green leaves are being sold at more than Rs 40 per kg in Illam and Jhapa. Besides orthodox tea, the leaves are plucked for CTC tea. The first tea leaves are used to make green tea for third countries. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">CTC tea is made from the leaves plucked after that. Tea farmers say that even the lowest quality tea leaves are being sold at Rs 30 per kg. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June is considered the middle of tea picking season which starts from April. Since most tea leaves are produced in the mid season, its price tends to be cheaper. However, this time the farmers are relieved as the price of tea has increased at a time when it usually decreases. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shiva Kumar Gupta, manager of Bharatpur-based Star Tea Industry, who has been involved in tea business for two decades, says that he is buying the green leaves at Rs 20 to Rs 22 for manufacturing CTC tea throughout the year in the industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He claims that the price hike this year is highest than previous years. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, the price of green leaves has increased after an increase in demand for Nepali tea in Indian market. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Indian traders have been buying CTC tea at Rs 250 to Rs 300 per kg. The price is double than that of last year. During last year, the price of CTC tea was Rs 130 per kg. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12121', 'image' => '20200825014401_1598303364.1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 13:43:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prohibitory Order More Hazardous to Industries than Lockdown', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: Entrepreneurs and industrialists say that the recent prohibitory order issued on August 19 has affected their businesses much more than the four-month lockdown imposed by the government on March 24.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 28: Entrepreneurs and industrialists say that the recent prohibitory order issued on August 19 has affected their businesses much more than the four-month lockdown imposed by the government on March 24.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They claim that 75 percent of their businesses have come to a halt due to lack of consumption and production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The lockdown imposed by the government on March 24 was lifted almost after four months on July 21. During the lockdown period, the government had decided on May 8 to allow 44 different industries to resume operation. Those industries had slowly started returning back to business. They had increased their production capacity after the government eased the restriction. But now, they are facing the same problem once again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Shekhar Golchha says that the industries that were slowly returning to normalcy have again suffered another setback. He agreed that prohibitory order was necessary due to the high risk of infection but said closing industries is not a solution to the problem.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Operating businesses and industries has risk of spreading infection while closing them threatens the economy. Therefore, it is essential to reopen businesses and industries by adopting safety measures and high alertness,” says Golchha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Golchha says although some industries are manufacturing essential goods, they are facing problems in transporting the products to the market. Lack of market means they are forced to stop production. In such a scenario, Golchha fears that many industries will become bankrupt if the current situation persists any longer.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Senior Vice President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Rajendra Malla, says that 40 percent industries were operating in June/July but now almost all of them are closed. He said that economic activities have almost come to a complete halt.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that it is essential to stop the spread of coronavirus but at the same time the government must also facilitate in reopening industries and businesses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Other industrialists say that lack of raw materials due to transportation problem has forced them to downsize their production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Bishnu Neupane, chairman of Saurav Group, which manufactures cement and iron, says they are operating at 15 percent capacity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Industrialists complain that although the federal government has pledged not to halt the transportation service for essential goods, including raw materials for industries, the provincial and local governments have been obstructing vehicular movement upon confirmation of coronavirus cases in their respective areas.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Neupane says that the government has not banned production in industries but complained that the authorities do not facilitate them in sales and supply of their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-28', 'modified' => '2020-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12135', 'image' => '20200828122411_20200810025618_20200415125719_1586906108.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-28 12:23:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrial Corridors Hit Hard by Prohibitory Order ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: The production of the nation’s major industrial corridors has shrunk due to the prohibitory order imposed by the government to control the spread of coronavirus infection.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 28: The production of the nation’s major industrial corridors has shrunk due to the prohibitory order imposed by the government to control the spread of coronavirus infection. The industrial activities, that were returning to normalcy after the government last month lifted the four-month long lockdown, has slowed down recently. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Prohibitory orders have now been imposed in more than 50 districts due to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases. Entrepreneurs say that production has declined as both the center of production and the major markets have been affected. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, senior vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, informed that the production of most of the industries in Bara-Parsa industrial corridor has dropped below 25 percent of their capacity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similar is the condition of Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor. Entrepreneurs say that they have had to cut off 40 percent production capacity after the prohibitory order was imposed following an increase in number of infection in major commercial cities such as Biratnagar, Itahari, Dharan, Damak, and Birtamode of Province 1. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">They further say that the workers in the industries of Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor have stopped coming to work after the infection started appearing among the workers. On one hand, there is fear of infection, and on the other hand the production of the industries has been affected as the workers have stopped coming to the work. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-28', 'modified' => '2020-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12134', 'image' => '20200828014205_1598562717.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-28 13:41:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12386', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Eight Years on, Metro Rail Remains a Pipedream for Kathmanduites', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: It has been eight years since the government completed feasibility study of metro rail at five different places of the capital, Kathmandu.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: It has been eight years since the government completed feasibility study of metro rail at five different places of the capital, Kathmandu. However, investment for the project is yet to be finalized.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">People’s representatives of Kathmandu Metropolitan City as well as the government have been making announcements publicly about setting up the metro rail in five different routes in the capital but the preparation for seeking investment for the project has been limited only to discussions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In 2012, the feasibility study had outlined the possibility of operating metro rail across different areas covering a total distance of 87.18 kilometers. Those routes include Chobhar-Satdobato-Ratna Park-Narayan Gopal Chowk-Buddhanilkantha (22 kilometers), Kirtipur-Kalimati-New Baneshwar-Airport (11.15 kilometers), Koteshwar-Chabahil-Swayambhu (28.53 kilometers), Swayambhu-Dillibazar-Bouddha (11.70 kilometers), and Dhobighat-Singha Durbar-Gongabu (13.80 kilometers).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Department of Railways has so far selected a consultant company for preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Narayan Gopal Chowk-Satdobato section of Chobhar-Satdobato-Ratna Park-Narayan Gopal Chowk-Buddhanilkantha route.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The consultant company was supposed to submit its report within eight months but it has been delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis, informed Director General of the department Balaram Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He further said that the concerned authorities have not held any discussions regarding the establishment of metro rail along the other routes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12133', 'image' => '20200827060607_1598476269.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 18:05:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12385', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing to Resume International Flights Soon', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is making preparations to resume regular flights from September. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">August 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is making preparations to resume regular flights from September. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation as well as CAAN have published the schedule for international flights beginning from September 2. CAAN is making necessary preparations for flight operation safe as per the WHO and ICAO safety protocols.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The ministry on August 26 directed CAAN to resume international flights, including regular and chartered flights. However, public health protocols listed by UN agencies and development partners has to be followed while operating the flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN spokesperson Raj Kumar Chhetri informed that the aviation regulatory body has started necessary preparations in coordination with all stakeholders for resuming regular flights. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">"The flights are taking place. However, the government has decided to operate daily flights from September 2,” he informed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN will adopt various safety standards including time gap between each flight as well as limited number of passengers to avoid the spread of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Airline operators have been preparing their flight plans following the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and CAAN. Airlines also have their own protocols,” Chhetri added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Currently, only chartered flights are allowed to operate mainly for the repatriation of stranded citizens and to bring medical supplies.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12132', 'image' => '20200827042104_1598477546.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 16:20:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12384', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Business Slumps during Peak Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The automobile business, which is more vibrant between August to November, has collapsed this year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 27: The automobile business, which is more vibrant between August to November, has collapsed this year. In the previous years, the automobile operators had a turnover of more than Rs 10 billion during this time period. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic and prohibitory order, this sector is struggling to sustain the business this year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In August, the automobile sector used to be active in the previous years. The automobile dealers used to be busy preparing for NADA Auto Show, Dashain scheme and other programmes. Every year in August, before the arrival of Dashain, the Automobile Association of Nepal (NADA) used to organized the NADA Auto Show. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to NADA chairman Krishna Prasad Dulal, the auto show used to run the automobile business till Dashain. However, due to the pandemic, the auto show will not be held this year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The officials of NADA say that the automobile companies have no plans to come up with any discounts and schemes for Dashain due to the increasing infection and prohibitory order. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the companies, although the sales of four-wheelers were null during the lockdown, the sales of two –wheelers and four-wheelers were increasing. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The companies had expected some relief from the NADA Auto Show, but the prohibitory order has played the spoilsport. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Dulal says that the automobile entrepreneurs, who used to have transaction of around Rs 5 billion till Dashain in the previous years, have been seriously affected this year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“NADA will not happen, but we can’t say what will happen during Dashain without analyzing the upcoming situation,” he said, adding, “If the government does not lift the restriction on automobile sales, the businessmen will have to abandon their business.” </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12131', 'image' => '20200827032601_20170904021624__DSC7854.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 15:25:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12383', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Loan Accounts of Finance Companies and Development Banks Declining', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Bankers believe that the reason for the decrease in the loan account of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class finance companies is the mergers and acquisitions of finance companies and development banks by commercial banks.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 27: Bankers believe that the reason for the decrease in the loan account of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class finance companies is the mergers and acquisitions of finance companies and development banks by commercial banks. There had been a merger between Gandaki Bikas Bank and Mega Bank some time ago. In addition to that, Kumari Bank and Deva Bikas Bank have also merged and started integrated transaction.</span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Commercial banks, which were not able to flow any new credit in the last 3 months (Chaitra, Baishak and Jestha) have given more than 45 thousand loans in Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). The total number of loans given by the 27 commercial banks was 1.15 million at the end of Jestha (mid-June) whereas it became 1.19 million by the end of Ashad (mid-July). However, the number of loans given has decreased for development banks and finance companies in the same period of time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Screen%20Shot%202020-08-27%20at%202.09.34%20PM.png" style="height:347px; width:1023px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data from Nepal Rastra Bank, the total loan account of the 20 development banks has decreased by 26,755 in the month of Ashad. The account that totaled 329,000 in Jestha (mid-May to mid-June) has become 320,000 in Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). However, Pradhyumna Pokharel, the senior vice-president of Nepal Development Bankers’ Association, says that the loans of development banks haven’t been transferred by much to commercial banks. According to him, the mergers and acquisitions between development banks and commercial banks is the reason for the decrease in the number of loan account.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The loan account of the ‘C’ class finance companies has also declined. The loan account of the total 22 finance companies has decreased by 160 in the month of Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). The loan account totaled to 45,489 in the month of Jestha (mid-May to mid-June). Saroj Kaji Tuladhar, the president of Nepal Financial Institutions Association, claimed that some of the debtors have moved to commercial banks because of the low-interest rate loan schemes introduced by the commercial banks due to the high liquidity in banks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Tuladhar, who is also the CEO of Goodwill Finance, said that the interest rates on loans range from 10 percent to 15 percent in finance companies. However, commercial banks are competing for debtors by stating their interest rates as low as 7 percent. He added that some debtors have made a prepayment of their loans because of the lack of business due to the extended lockdown. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Some debtors have searched for cheaper interest rates and swapped their loans. Some of them have paid off their loan using the money they have. There have been no new applications for loan. Therefore, the loan accounts of finance companies have decreased,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The interest rates on loans had decreased by about 2 percent after the banks implemented a single digit base rate from Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). They have also brought schemes that provide a discount on the interest of loans as a relief for those affected by coronavirus. Bankers claim that despite the decline in the interest rates due to the high liquidity, the credit flow has improved a bit. Commercial banks had distributed a loan of Rs 86 billion between mid-June to mid-July last year. The credit flow of the commercial banks was negative during Baisakh and Jestha (between mid-April to mid-June) because of the absence of the flow of new credit.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12130', 'image' => '20200827021155_20200506100208_1588717198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 14:10:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12382', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chemical Fertilizers Finally Arrive in Birgunj', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Chemical fertilizers that were stranded in Indian ports since the last five months have finally arrived at Birgunj Dry Port. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: Chemical fertilizers that were stranded in Indian ports since the last five months have finally arrived at Birgunj Dry Port. Government authorities confirmed that 2,600 metric tons of urea have arrived at Birgunj from Kolkata Port. The fertilizers were sent from Kolkata last week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Salt Trading Corporation has been storing 32,000 metric tons of fertilizers at Kolkata Port. It includes 21,500 tons of fertilizers of last fiscal year and 10,500 metric tons for the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chief of the regional office of Salt Trading Corporation, Birgunj, Amoj Lamichhane informed New Business Age that the urea will be provided to the farmers after customs clearance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“The fertilizers are in the process of entering in Nepal. All the fertilizers at Kolkata will reach Nepal within a few days,” said Lamichhane. The Birgunj office of Salt Trading Corporation supplies fertilizers to 19 districts.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Besides the consignment of 2600 metric tons of urea which arrived at Birgunj through railways, an additional 3900 metric tons of urea have been sent to Nepal through road, according to Laxman Khadka, chief of the Kolkata-based Nepal Transshipment and Warehouse Management Company. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Some of the fertilizers sent through road have entered Nepal through Biratnagar customs point.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Farmers are facing shortage of chemical fertilizers due to the delay in supplying the fertilizers during plantation season by the Salt Trading Corporation and Krishi Samagri Company – the two state-owned companies assigned to oversee the supply of fertilizers. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The fertilizers were stuck at a port in Gujrat for four months before finally arriving at Kolkata port about two weeks ago. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Salt Trading Corporation had purchased the chemical fertilizers from Dubai-based Multi Commodities before the lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The total demand for urea this season is 30,000 metric tons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Farmers require urea after plantation of paddy. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12129', 'image' => '20200827124355_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 12:43:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12381', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Inflow of Remittance Remains Above Average Despite Current Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Remittance inflow to Nepal has remained above average in recent months despite widespread speculations that it would decline due to the global impact of Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: Remittance inflow to Nepal has remained above average in recent months despite widespread speculations that it would decline due to the global impact of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The inflow of remittance was above average in the first month of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-August). Remittance inflow was above average in the previous two months as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal received remittance around Rs 90 billion in mid-July to mid-August, according to Nepal Remitters Association. The figure is 20 percent more compared to the remittance inflow of last fiscal year. During the corresponding period of last FY 2019/20, the inflow of remittance to Nepal was Rs 75.40 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chairman of Nepal Remitters Association, Suman Pokharel, said that the country received remittance of around Rs 90 billion according to their estimate.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“The inflow of remittance during the month of Shrawn (mid-July to mid-August) seems to be above average despite Covid-19 crisis,” said Pokharel.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Nepal Remitters Association, the inflow of remittance during the review period however has declined by 10 percent compared to the previous month (mid-June/mid-July). During that period, Nepal had received remittance of Rs 101 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During normal circumstances, the average inflow of remittance to Nepal is around Rs 73 billion. However, during the first two months of the lockdown imposed in March, the inflow of remittance had dropped below average. However, it has picked up pace again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data kept by Nepal Rastra Bank, the inflow of remittance in Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April) was Rs 34 billion followed by Rs 54 billion in Baishakh (mid-April to mid-May).</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12128', 'image' => '20200827110732_1598476383.2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 11:07:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12380', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prohibitory Order Fueling Black Marketing of Consumer Goods in Saptari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: District Administration Office, Saptari has issued a prohibitory order to control the spread of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 26: District Administration Office, Saptari has issued a prohibitory order to control the spread of coronavirus. However, this prohibitory order has become an opportunity for some traders to cheat the customers and make fast money from them. Customers complain that the traders are selling grocery items at double price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The traders are charging high price to the customers saying that the goods have not been imported as per the demand. Goods like lentil, rice, cooking oil, spices, sugar and biscuits are sold at high price openly. Ramesh Kumar Yadav of Bishnupur rural municipality – 1, says that they are obliged to buy goods at high price as only limited shops are open. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Stating that they are forced to buy essential items in high price, he says, “The daily essential items are openly being sold at high price in the markets of Rajbiraj. Despite this, the local government and administration have not shown any interest to curb this malpractice.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Mayadevi Shah also shares a similar experience. She says that the shopkeepers arbitrarily charge high prices from customers under the pretext of lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> “Teams of police and army come in Rajbiraj every now and then,” she says, “There is a rush to buy goods. Chaos is seen in the market when the police and army teams arrive. So, even though the goods are expensive, we are obliged to buy them.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nagmani Shah of Nagmani grocery store says that the supply of goods in the market is not so easy like before due to the lockdown and as the wholesale price has increased, they have to sell the products in a bit higher price. He admits that the price of oil, sugar, pulses and other goods has slightly increased than the previous month. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shankar Dar, president of Saptari Chamber of Commerce and Industry, claims that there is no shortage of goods in the market. He informed that the monitoring work has been started after they received the information that the goods are being sold at high price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Unnecessary rumors have been spread that goods have been sold at higher prices," he said, adding, “If any shopkeeper is charging high price, let us know immediately. We will take action instantly.” </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12127', 'image' => '20200826025232_20200327122456_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 14:51:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12379', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing to Lower Airfare for Foreigners ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to make the airfare uniform for both foreigners and Nepali nationals during domestic flights.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">August 26: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to make the airfare uniform for both foreigners and Nepali nationals during domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN is preparing to lower the charge for foreigners upon the recommendation of the Airfare Review Committee chaired by Deputy Director-General of CAAN Narendra Thapa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The committee also includes Anoj Rimal, CEO of Yeti Air, and Manoj Karki, managing director of Summit Air.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">However, Nepali airline operators have protested against such a decision informing that the airfare can cost even higher than the current fare if the foreigners will have to pay less than the rate fixed at present. Currently, domestic airlines in Nepal have been charging fares in dollars for foreigners on all the domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Airline operators inform that they are providing their air transportation service to Nepali passengers at a concessional rate because they make up for the loss by charging dollars with foreigners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The committee has made a proposal with the provision for airline operators to charge high fare for foreigners only for flights to Bharatpur in Chitwan, Jomsom in Mustang, Pokhara in Kaski, Lukla in Solukhumbu and Tumlingtar Airport in Sankhuwasabha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Minister for Tourism Yogesh Bhattarai while addressing the annual progress report of the last fiscal year at the ministry on Tuesday informed that preparations are underway to lower the airfare for foreigners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12126', 'image' => '20200826024213_1598389402.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 14:41:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12378', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NCHL Conducting Feasibility Study for National Payment Switch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: Nepal Rastra Bank has authorised Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to prepare a national payment switch at a time when the country is struggling for affordable and safe electronic transaction due to lack of such switch.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 26: Nepal Rastra Bank has authorised Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to prepare a national payment switch at a time when the country is struggling for affordable and safe electronic transaction due to lack of such switch.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The central bank assigned the job to NCHL about a month ago. NCHL has already started feasibility study for establishing the national payment gateway. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chief Executive of NCHL Nilesh Man Singh Pradhan says they will discuss about the modality of the payment switch after the feasibility study gets completed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have been paying hefty price for digital transaction through international payment gateway like Visa and MasterCard due to lack of Nepal’s own payment gateway. The switch is crucial for connecting all the institutions involved in electronic transaction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Currently, banks have been relying on international switch for the payment through debit and credit cards as well as for the use of ATMs. Some banks have made their own switch for this purpose.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal Rastra Bank has been paying Rs 12 per transaction to the operators of foreign switch, according to NRB Spokesperson Gunakar Bhatta.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal Rastra Bank had prepared a report on the National Payment Gateway in April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">NRB had formed a five-member committee headed by Subash Ghimire, director of the Payments System Department, to prepare the report after the finance ministry instructed the central bank to establish a national switch for electronic payment through banks. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A representative each from the finance ministry, Financial Comptroller General’s Office, Information Technology Centre and Nepal Bankers’ Association were the members of the committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The report had provided various suggestions to the central bank regarding the operation process of the payment gateway. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The national switch of NRB will incorporate revenue collection and payment of the government in the first phase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In the second phase, the central bank plans to bring all the payments across the country under a single channel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12125', 'image' => '20200826122725_1598389522.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 12:26:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12377', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Soybean Oil Replaces Palm Oil as Nepal’s Major Export Product', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: Soybean oil has taken the place of refined palm oil as Nepal’s chief export product after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil from Nepal since the last four months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 26: Soybean oil has taken the place of refined palm oil as Nepal’s chief export product after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil from Nepal since the last four months.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data kept by the Department of Customs, Nepal exported soybean oil worth Rs 2.27 billion in the first month of the current fiscal year. India is the major market of soybean oil produced in Nepal. The export of soybean oil to India in the first month of FY 2020/21 increased by five folds compared to the export during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In the first month of FY 2019/20, Nepal had exported soybean oil worth Rs 450 million to India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the last fiscal year, refined palm oil topped the list of products exported to India from Nepal. In FY 2019/20, Nepal exported refined palm oil worth Rs 19.31 billion to India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">However, the Department of Foreign Trade of India in May revoked the license of palm oil importers in the country due to which Nepali exporters were unable to sell the product in the Indian market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the operator of OCB Foods, Suresh Rungata, his industry has scaled up manufacturing soybean oil after India halted the export of palm oil from Nepal. He informed New Business Age that soybean oil accounts for more than 50 percent of the total production in the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“We opted for production of soybean and sunflower oils as an alternative to palm oil after India imposed the ban,” says Rungata.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Pradeep Muraraka, a businessman based in Biratnagar, says the demand for soybean oil has been increasing in the recent days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Although all industries are not operating in full capacity due to coronavirus pandemic, those that are operational have received high demand for soybean oil,” said Muraraka.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Industries in Nepal basically import crude soybean oil from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Indonesia and Ukraine. They then refine the oil and export it to India and third countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Besides soybean oil, other major export products of Nepal in the first month of the current fiscal year were tea, cardamom and carpet.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12124', 'image' => '20200826113011_1598389808.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 11:29:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12376', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Balance of Payment in Surplus due to Coronavirus Pandemic', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the external sector of economy despite affecting the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">August 25: Coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the external sector of economy despite affecting the country’s economy. Nepal’s Balance of Payment (BoP) surplus reached Rs 282 billion in the last fiscal year due to the decline in imports while the remittance did not decrease as estimated. A report published by the Nepal Rastra Bank on Monday which sheds light on the economic situation of the country in the last fiscal year showed that the Balance of Payment surplus has increased significantly.</span></span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although the country’s exports were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it also decreased the imports. Nepal’s imports decreased by 15.6 percent to Rs 1196 billion in the last fiscal year as compared to the previous year. The imports had increased by 13.9 percent in the fiscal year 2075/76.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Imports of crude palm oil, soybean, chemical fertilizers, edible oils, computers and its spare parts had increased whereas the imports of petroleum products, means of transportation and their spare parts, MS billets, gold, other machinery and their spare parts had declined in the last fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s exports improved by 0.6 percent during the review period. Nepal exported goods worth Rs 97.71 billion in the last fiscal year. Exports of palm oil, ayurvedic medicines, herbs, plastic utensils, fruits and other items increased while the exports of CGI sheets, wire, polyester yarn and threads, readymade garments, carpets have decreased in the recent times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Contraction of Trade Deficit</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The trade deficit shrunk by 16.8 percent to Rs 1099.9 billion in the fiscal year 2076/77. The deficit had increased by 13.5 percent in the previous year. The ratio of trade deficit to GDP is 29.2 percent. The ratio of export to import has become 8.2 percent in the year under review. This ratio was 6.8 percent in the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Improvement on Foreign Exchange Reserves</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The foreign exchange reserves have improved by 35 percent amounting to Rs 141 billion. The current reserves will be enough to support the imports of 14.4 months’ worth of goods and 12.7 months’ worth of goods and services.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, the current account deficit has decreased from Rs 265.37 billion in the previous year to Rs 32.6 billion last year by 87.9 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Remittance Income Did Not Decrease by Much</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The remittance income has decreased by much less than it was estimated due to coronavirus. Remittance declined by 0.5 percent. The total remittance inflow was Rs 875.3 billion in the last fiscal year. Remittance decreased by 3.3 percent in terms of American dollars. Under normal circumstances, Nepal, in an average has an inflow of remittance of around Rs 73 billion per month. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Increased Inflation</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The rate of inflation was 6.15 percent in the fiscal year 2076/77. According to the annual report published by Nepal Rastra Bank, the average rate of annual inflation on food and beverages has increased by 8.16 percent. The inflation rate was limited to 3.9 percent in the fiscal year 2076/77. Similarly, the rate of inflation on non-food and services group has reached 4.61 percent. The group had an inflation rate of 5.86 percent in the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Gunakar Bhatts, spokesperson for Nepal Rastra Bank, said that even though the overall annual inflation had increased, it declined to some extent till mid-July. However, he expressed that the lockdown since the past 4 months has caused a loss of business for everyone and has decreased the consumption capacity due to the lack of income.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Surplus on Balance of Services</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Balance of Services are in surplus because of the decline in the visit of foreign countries for travel as well as for education in their universities. The net balance of services was in surplus of Rs 1.22 billion in the fiscal year 2076/77 when it was in deficit of Rs 15.23 billion in the previous year. Meanwhile, the travel expenditure account has decreased by 40.1 percent to Rs 53.14 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12123', 'image' => '20200825044730_115237_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 16:47:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12373', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Train Engines and Carriages for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway arrive at Patna', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Two trains for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway have arrived at Hajipur of Patna.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">August 25: Two trains for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway have arrived at Hajipur of Patna. The train carriages and engines were manufactured by India’s International Coach Factory at a cost of Rs 860 million. The trains have been stranded in Patna due to the crisis created by coronavirus. The pandemic has cast uncertainty over the operation of the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Nepal has paid 20 percent amount for the two trains. The remaining amount will be paid after test operation in Nepal, informed Director General of the Department of Railways, Balaram Mishra. The two trains have the capacity to carry 2,600 people (1,300 each).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The underconstruction Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardibas Railway is 69 kilometers long. A 34-kilometer section of the railway track between Janakpur and Jayanagar is already complete. The trains will be operated along this section for the time being.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Nepal is planning to bring technicians from Indian on contract basis for the operation of the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Director General Mishra informed that they have reached an understanding with the Indian Railway Board in a recent virtual meeting that the trains would be handed over to Nepal within mid-September. However, he added that the date might be postponed if the current situation persists.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The railways department is preparing to announce vacancy for human resource required to operate the trains. The selected candidates would be sent to India for training, said Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport had earlier sent around a dozen employees to China for training related to railway construction. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The government will have to bear additional cost to pay the Indian technicians for operating the trains for the time being on top of the training expenses of its own employees.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The Indian company has given one year’s guarantee for the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12122', 'image' => '20200825030614_1598305318.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 15:05:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12372', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Farmers get Good Price for Tea Leaves this Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Dambar Bahadur Katuwal, a tea farmer in Kanyam, Illam, is ecstatic to get a fair price for tea.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 25: Dambar Bahadur Katuwal, a tea farmer in Kanyam, Illam, is ecstatic to get a fair price for tea. Tea farmers like Katuwal, who were worried that the lockdown might affect their sales, are now excited as the industries have bought tea for Rs 40 per kg from them. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Suryodaya municipality has fixed a minimum price of tea for farmers at Rs 40. Although some industrialists protested against the pricing of the tea, the tea industry has started buying green leaves at Rs 40 with the farmers after they started going to Darjeeling without processing. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The green leaves are being sold at more than Rs 40 per kg in Illam and Jhapa. Besides orthodox tea, the leaves are plucked for CTC tea. The first tea leaves are used to make green tea for third countries. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">CTC tea is made from the leaves plucked after that. Tea farmers say that even the lowest quality tea leaves are being sold at Rs 30 per kg. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June is considered the middle of tea picking season which starts from April. Since most tea leaves are produced in the mid season, its price tends to be cheaper. However, this time the farmers are relieved as the price of tea has increased at a time when it usually decreases. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shiva Kumar Gupta, manager of Bharatpur-based Star Tea Industry, who has been involved in tea business for two decades, says that he is buying the green leaves at Rs 20 to Rs 22 for manufacturing CTC tea throughout the year in the industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He claims that the price hike this year is highest than previous years. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, the price of green leaves has increased after an increase in demand for Nepali tea in Indian market. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Indian traders have been buying CTC tea at Rs 250 to Rs 300 per kg. The price is double than that of last year. During last year, the price of CTC tea was Rs 130 per kg. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12121', 'image' => '20200825014401_1598303364.1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 13:43:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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During the lockdown period, the government had decided on May 8 to allow 44 different industries to resume operation. Those industries had slowly started returning back to business. They had increased their production capacity after the government eased the restriction. But now, they are facing the same problem once again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Shekhar Golchha says that the industries that were slowly returning to normalcy have again suffered another setback. He agreed that prohibitory order was necessary due to the high risk of infection but said closing industries is not a solution to the problem.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Operating businesses and industries has risk of spreading infection while closing them threatens the economy. Therefore, it is essential to reopen businesses and industries by adopting safety measures and high alertness,” says Golchha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Golchha says although some industries are manufacturing essential goods, they are facing problems in transporting the products to the market. Lack of market means they are forced to stop production. In such a scenario, Golchha fears that many industries will become bankrupt if the current situation persists any longer.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Senior Vice President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Rajendra Malla, says that 40 percent industries were operating in June/July but now almost all of them are closed. He said that economic activities have almost come to a complete halt.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that it is essential to stop the spread of coronavirus but at the same time the government must also facilitate in reopening industries and businesses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Other industrialists say that lack of raw materials due to transportation problem has forced them to downsize their production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Bishnu Neupane, chairman of Saurav Group, which manufactures cement and iron, says they are operating at 15 percent capacity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Industrialists complain that although the federal government has pledged not to halt the transportation service for essential goods, including raw materials for industries, the provincial and local governments have been obstructing vehicular movement upon confirmation of coronavirus cases in their respective areas.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Neupane says that the government has not banned production in industries but complained that the authorities do not facilitate them in sales and supply of their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-28', 'modified' => '2020-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12135', 'image' => '20200828122411_20200810025618_20200415125719_1586906108.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-28 12:23:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrial Corridors Hit Hard by Prohibitory Order ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: The production of the nation’s major industrial corridors has shrunk due to the prohibitory order imposed by the government to control the spread of coronavirus infection.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 28: The production of the nation’s major industrial corridors has shrunk due to the prohibitory order imposed by the government to control the spread of coronavirus infection. The industrial activities, that were returning to normalcy after the government last month lifted the four-month long lockdown, has slowed down recently. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Prohibitory orders have now been imposed in more than 50 districts due to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases. Entrepreneurs say that production has declined as both the center of production and the major markets have been affected. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, senior vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, informed that the production of most of the industries in Bara-Parsa industrial corridor has dropped below 25 percent of their capacity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similar is the condition of Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor. Entrepreneurs say that they have had to cut off 40 percent production capacity after the prohibitory order was imposed following an increase in number of infection in major commercial cities such as Biratnagar, Itahari, Dharan, Damak, and Birtamode of Province 1. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">They further say that the workers in the industries of Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor have stopped coming to work after the infection started appearing among the workers. On one hand, there is fear of infection, and on the other hand the production of the industries has been affected as the workers have stopped coming to the work. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-28', 'modified' => '2020-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12134', 'image' => '20200828014205_1598562717.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-28 13:41:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12386', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Eight Years on, Metro Rail Remains a Pipedream for Kathmanduites', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: It has been eight years since the government completed feasibility study of metro rail at five different places of the capital, Kathmandu.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: It has been eight years since the government completed feasibility study of metro rail at five different places of the capital, Kathmandu. However, investment for the project is yet to be finalized.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">People’s representatives of Kathmandu Metropolitan City as well as the government have been making announcements publicly about setting up the metro rail in five different routes in the capital but the preparation for seeking investment for the project has been limited only to discussions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In 2012, the feasibility study had outlined the possibility of operating metro rail across different areas covering a total distance of 87.18 kilometers. Those routes include Chobhar-Satdobato-Ratna Park-Narayan Gopal Chowk-Buddhanilkantha (22 kilometers), Kirtipur-Kalimati-New Baneshwar-Airport (11.15 kilometers), Koteshwar-Chabahil-Swayambhu (28.53 kilometers), Swayambhu-Dillibazar-Bouddha (11.70 kilometers), and Dhobighat-Singha Durbar-Gongabu (13.80 kilometers).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Department of Railways has so far selected a consultant company for preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Narayan Gopal Chowk-Satdobato section of Chobhar-Satdobato-Ratna Park-Narayan Gopal Chowk-Buddhanilkantha route.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The consultant company was supposed to submit its report within eight months but it has been delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis, informed Director General of the department Balaram Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He further said that the concerned authorities have not held any discussions regarding the establishment of metro rail along the other routes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12133', 'image' => '20200827060607_1598476269.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 18:05:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12385', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing to Resume International Flights Soon', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is making preparations to resume regular flights from September. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">August 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is making preparations to resume regular flights from September. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation as well as CAAN have published the schedule for international flights beginning from September 2. CAAN is making necessary preparations for flight operation safe as per the WHO and ICAO safety protocols.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The ministry on August 26 directed CAAN to resume international flights, including regular and chartered flights. However, public health protocols listed by UN agencies and development partners has to be followed while operating the flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN spokesperson Raj Kumar Chhetri informed that the aviation regulatory body has started necessary preparations in coordination with all stakeholders for resuming regular flights. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">"The flights are taking place. However, the government has decided to operate daily flights from September 2,” he informed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN will adopt various safety standards including time gap between each flight as well as limited number of passengers to avoid the spread of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Airline operators have been preparing their flight plans following the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and CAAN. Airlines also have their own protocols,” Chhetri added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Currently, only chartered flights are allowed to operate mainly for the repatriation of stranded citizens and to bring medical supplies.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12132', 'image' => '20200827042104_1598477546.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 16:20:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12384', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Business Slumps during Peak Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The automobile business, which is more vibrant between August to November, has collapsed this year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 27: The automobile business, which is more vibrant between August to November, has collapsed this year. In the previous years, the automobile operators had a turnover of more than Rs 10 billion during this time period. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic and prohibitory order, this sector is struggling to sustain the business this year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In August, the automobile sector used to be active in the previous years. The automobile dealers used to be busy preparing for NADA Auto Show, Dashain scheme and other programmes. Every year in August, before the arrival of Dashain, the Automobile Association of Nepal (NADA) used to organized the NADA Auto Show. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to NADA chairman Krishna Prasad Dulal, the auto show used to run the automobile business till Dashain. However, due to the pandemic, the auto show will not be held this year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The officials of NADA say that the automobile companies have no plans to come up with any discounts and schemes for Dashain due to the increasing infection and prohibitory order. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the companies, although the sales of four-wheelers were null during the lockdown, the sales of two –wheelers and four-wheelers were increasing. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The companies had expected some relief from the NADA Auto Show, but the prohibitory order has played the spoilsport. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Dulal says that the automobile entrepreneurs, who used to have transaction of around Rs 5 billion till Dashain in the previous years, have been seriously affected this year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“NADA will not happen, but we can’t say what will happen during Dashain without analyzing the upcoming situation,” he said, adding, “If the government does not lift the restriction on automobile sales, the businessmen will have to abandon their business.” </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12131', 'image' => '20200827032601_20170904021624__DSC7854.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 15:25:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12383', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Loan Accounts of Finance Companies and Development Banks Declining', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Bankers believe that the reason for the decrease in the loan account of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class finance companies is the mergers and acquisitions of finance companies and development banks by commercial banks.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 27: Bankers believe that the reason for the decrease in the loan account of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class finance companies is the mergers and acquisitions of finance companies and development banks by commercial banks. There had been a merger between Gandaki Bikas Bank and Mega Bank some time ago. In addition to that, Kumari Bank and Deva Bikas Bank have also merged and started integrated transaction.</span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Commercial banks, which were not able to flow any new credit in the last 3 months (Chaitra, Baishak and Jestha) have given more than 45 thousand loans in Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). The total number of loans given by the 27 commercial banks was 1.15 million at the end of Jestha (mid-June) whereas it became 1.19 million by the end of Ashad (mid-July). However, the number of loans given has decreased for development banks and finance companies in the same period of time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Screen%20Shot%202020-08-27%20at%202.09.34%20PM.png" style="height:347px; width:1023px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data from Nepal Rastra Bank, the total loan account of the 20 development banks has decreased by 26,755 in the month of Ashad. The account that totaled 329,000 in Jestha (mid-May to mid-June) has become 320,000 in Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). However, Pradhyumna Pokharel, the senior vice-president of Nepal Development Bankers’ Association, says that the loans of development banks haven’t been transferred by much to commercial banks. According to him, the mergers and acquisitions between development banks and commercial banks is the reason for the decrease in the number of loan account.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The loan account of the ‘C’ class finance companies has also declined. The loan account of the total 22 finance companies has decreased by 160 in the month of Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). The loan account totaled to 45,489 in the month of Jestha (mid-May to mid-June). Saroj Kaji Tuladhar, the president of Nepal Financial Institutions Association, claimed that some of the debtors have moved to commercial banks because of the low-interest rate loan schemes introduced by the commercial banks due to the high liquidity in banks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Tuladhar, who is also the CEO of Goodwill Finance, said that the interest rates on loans range from 10 percent to 15 percent in finance companies. However, commercial banks are competing for debtors by stating their interest rates as low as 7 percent. He added that some debtors have made a prepayment of their loans because of the lack of business due to the extended lockdown. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Some debtors have searched for cheaper interest rates and swapped their loans. Some of them have paid off their loan using the money they have. There have been no new applications for loan. Therefore, the loan accounts of finance companies have decreased,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The interest rates on loans had decreased by about 2 percent after the banks implemented a single digit base rate from Ashad (mid-June to mid-July). They have also brought schemes that provide a discount on the interest of loans as a relief for those affected by coronavirus. Bankers claim that despite the decline in the interest rates due to the high liquidity, the credit flow has improved a bit. Commercial banks had distributed a loan of Rs 86 billion between mid-June to mid-July last year. The credit flow of the commercial banks was negative during Baisakh and Jestha (between mid-April to mid-June) because of the absence of the flow of new credit.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12130', 'image' => '20200827021155_20200506100208_1588717198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 14:10:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12382', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chemical Fertilizers Finally Arrive in Birgunj', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Chemical fertilizers that were stranded in Indian ports since the last five months have finally arrived at Birgunj Dry Port. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: Chemical fertilizers that were stranded in Indian ports since the last five months have finally arrived at Birgunj Dry Port. Government authorities confirmed that 2,600 metric tons of urea have arrived at Birgunj from Kolkata Port. The fertilizers were sent from Kolkata last week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Salt Trading Corporation has been storing 32,000 metric tons of fertilizers at Kolkata Port. It includes 21,500 tons of fertilizers of last fiscal year and 10,500 metric tons for the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chief of the regional office of Salt Trading Corporation, Birgunj, Amoj Lamichhane informed New Business Age that the urea will be provided to the farmers after customs clearance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“The fertilizers are in the process of entering in Nepal. All the fertilizers at Kolkata will reach Nepal within a few days,” said Lamichhane. The Birgunj office of Salt Trading Corporation supplies fertilizers to 19 districts.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Besides the consignment of 2600 metric tons of urea which arrived at Birgunj through railways, an additional 3900 metric tons of urea have been sent to Nepal through road, according to Laxman Khadka, chief of the Kolkata-based Nepal Transshipment and Warehouse Management Company. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Some of the fertilizers sent through road have entered Nepal through Biratnagar customs point.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Farmers are facing shortage of chemical fertilizers due to the delay in supplying the fertilizers during plantation season by the Salt Trading Corporation and Krishi Samagri Company – the two state-owned companies assigned to oversee the supply of fertilizers. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The fertilizers were stuck at a port in Gujrat for four months before finally arriving at Kolkata port about two weeks ago. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Salt Trading Corporation had purchased the chemical fertilizers from Dubai-based Multi Commodities before the lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The total demand for urea this season is 30,000 metric tons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Farmers require urea after plantation of paddy. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12129', 'image' => '20200827124355_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 12:43:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12381', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Inflow of Remittance Remains Above Average Despite Current Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: Remittance inflow to Nepal has remained above average in recent months despite widespread speculations that it would decline due to the global impact of Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 27: Remittance inflow to Nepal has remained above average in recent months despite widespread speculations that it would decline due to the global impact of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The inflow of remittance was above average in the first month of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-August). Remittance inflow was above average in the previous two months as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal received remittance around Rs 90 billion in mid-July to mid-August, according to Nepal Remitters Association. The figure is 20 percent more compared to the remittance inflow of last fiscal year. During the corresponding period of last FY 2019/20, the inflow of remittance to Nepal was Rs 75.40 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chairman of Nepal Remitters Association, Suman Pokharel, said that the country received remittance of around Rs 90 billion according to their estimate.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“The inflow of remittance during the month of Shrawn (mid-July to mid-August) seems to be above average despite Covid-19 crisis,” said Pokharel.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Nepal Remitters Association, the inflow of remittance during the review period however has declined by 10 percent compared to the previous month (mid-June/mid-July). During that period, Nepal had received remittance of Rs 101 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During normal circumstances, the average inflow of remittance to Nepal is around Rs 73 billion. However, during the first two months of the lockdown imposed in March, the inflow of remittance had dropped below average. However, it has picked up pace again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data kept by Nepal Rastra Bank, the inflow of remittance in Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April) was Rs 34 billion followed by Rs 54 billion in Baishakh (mid-April to mid-May).</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-27', 'modified' => '2020-08-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12128', 'image' => '20200827110732_1598476383.2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-27 11:07:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12380', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prohibitory Order Fueling Black Marketing of Consumer Goods in Saptari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: District Administration Office, Saptari has issued a prohibitory order to control the spread of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 26: District Administration Office, Saptari has issued a prohibitory order to control the spread of coronavirus. However, this prohibitory order has become an opportunity for some traders to cheat the customers and make fast money from them. Customers complain that the traders are selling grocery items at double price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The traders are charging high price to the customers saying that the goods have not been imported as per the demand. Goods like lentil, rice, cooking oil, spices, sugar and biscuits are sold at high price openly. Ramesh Kumar Yadav of Bishnupur rural municipality – 1, says that they are obliged to buy goods at high price as only limited shops are open. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Stating that they are forced to buy essential items in high price, he says, “The daily essential items are openly being sold at high price in the markets of Rajbiraj. Despite this, the local government and administration have not shown any interest to curb this malpractice.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Mayadevi Shah also shares a similar experience. She says that the shopkeepers arbitrarily charge high prices from customers under the pretext of lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> “Teams of police and army come in Rajbiraj every now and then,” she says, “There is a rush to buy goods. Chaos is seen in the market when the police and army teams arrive. So, even though the goods are expensive, we are obliged to buy them.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nagmani Shah of Nagmani grocery store says that the supply of goods in the market is not so easy like before due to the lockdown and as the wholesale price has increased, they have to sell the products in a bit higher price. He admits that the price of oil, sugar, pulses and other goods has slightly increased than the previous month. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shankar Dar, president of Saptari Chamber of Commerce and Industry, claims that there is no shortage of goods in the market. He informed that the monitoring work has been started after they received the information that the goods are being sold at high price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Unnecessary rumors have been spread that goods have been sold at higher prices," he said, adding, “If any shopkeeper is charging high price, let us know immediately. We will take action instantly.” </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12127', 'image' => '20200826025232_20200327122456_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 14:51:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12379', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing to Lower Airfare for Foreigners ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to make the airfare uniform for both foreigners and Nepali nationals during domestic flights.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">August 26: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to make the airfare uniform for both foreigners and Nepali nationals during domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">CAAN is preparing to lower the charge for foreigners upon the recommendation of the Airfare Review Committee chaired by Deputy Director-General of CAAN Narendra Thapa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The committee also includes Anoj Rimal, CEO of Yeti Air, and Manoj Karki, managing director of Summit Air.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">However, Nepali airline operators have protested against such a decision informing that the airfare can cost even higher than the current fare if the foreigners will have to pay less than the rate fixed at present. Currently, domestic airlines in Nepal have been charging fares in dollars for foreigners on all the domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Airline operators inform that they are providing their air transportation service to Nepali passengers at a concessional rate because they make up for the loss by charging dollars with foreigners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The committee has made a proposal with the provision for airline operators to charge high fare for foreigners only for flights to Bharatpur in Chitwan, Jomsom in Mustang, Pokhara in Kaski, Lukla in Solukhumbu and Tumlingtar Airport in Sankhuwasabha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Minister for Tourism Yogesh Bhattarai while addressing the annual progress report of the last fiscal year at the ministry on Tuesday informed that preparations are underway to lower the airfare for foreigners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12126', 'image' => '20200826024213_1598389402.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 14:41:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12378', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NCHL Conducting Feasibility Study for National Payment Switch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: Nepal Rastra Bank has authorised Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to prepare a national payment switch at a time when the country is struggling for affordable and safe electronic transaction due to lack of such switch.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 26: Nepal Rastra Bank has authorised Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to prepare a national payment switch at a time when the country is struggling for affordable and safe electronic transaction due to lack of such switch.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The central bank assigned the job to NCHL about a month ago. NCHL has already started feasibility study for establishing the national payment gateway. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chief Executive of NCHL Nilesh Man Singh Pradhan says they will discuss about the modality of the payment switch after the feasibility study gets completed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have been paying hefty price for digital transaction through international payment gateway like Visa and MasterCard due to lack of Nepal’s own payment gateway. The switch is crucial for connecting all the institutions involved in electronic transaction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Currently, banks have been relying on international switch for the payment through debit and credit cards as well as for the use of ATMs. Some banks have made their own switch for this purpose.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal Rastra Bank has been paying Rs 12 per transaction to the operators of foreign switch, according to NRB Spokesperson Gunakar Bhatta.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Nepal Rastra Bank had prepared a report on the National Payment Gateway in April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">NRB had formed a five-member committee headed by Subash Ghimire, director of the Payments System Department, to prepare the report after the finance ministry instructed the central bank to establish a national switch for electronic payment through banks. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A representative each from the finance ministry, Financial Comptroller General’s Office, Information Technology Centre and Nepal Bankers’ Association were the members of the committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The report had provided various suggestions to the central bank regarding the operation process of the payment gateway. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The national switch of NRB will incorporate revenue collection and payment of the government in the first phase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In the second phase, the central bank plans to bring all the payments across the country under a single channel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12125', 'image' => '20200826122725_1598389522.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 12:26:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12377', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Soybean Oil Replaces Palm Oil as Nepal’s Major Export Product', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 26: Soybean oil has taken the place of refined palm oil as Nepal’s chief export product after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil from Nepal since the last four months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">August 26: Soybean oil has taken the place of refined palm oil as Nepal’s chief export product after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil from Nepal since the last four months.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data kept by the Department of Customs, Nepal exported soybean oil worth Rs 2.27 billion in the first month of the current fiscal year. India is the major market of soybean oil produced in Nepal. The export of soybean oil to India in the first month of FY 2020/21 increased by five folds compared to the export during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In the first month of FY 2019/20, Nepal had exported soybean oil worth Rs 450 million to India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the last fiscal year, refined palm oil topped the list of products exported to India from Nepal. In FY 2019/20, Nepal exported refined palm oil worth Rs 19.31 billion to India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">However, the Department of Foreign Trade of India in May revoked the license of palm oil importers in the country due to which Nepali exporters were unable to sell the product in the Indian market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the operator of OCB Foods, Suresh Rungata, his industry has scaled up manufacturing soybean oil after India halted the export of palm oil from Nepal. He informed New Business Age that soybean oil accounts for more than 50 percent of the total production in the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“We opted for production of soybean and sunflower oils as an alternative to palm oil after India imposed the ban,” says Rungata.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Pradeep Muraraka, a businessman based in Biratnagar, says the demand for soybean oil has been increasing in the recent days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Although all industries are not operating in full capacity due to coronavirus pandemic, those that are operational have received high demand for soybean oil,” said Muraraka.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Industries in Nepal basically import crude soybean oil from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Indonesia and Ukraine. They then refine the oil and export it to India and third countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Besides soybean oil, other major export products of Nepal in the first month of the current fiscal year were tea, cardamom and carpet.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-26', 'modified' => '2020-08-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12124', 'image' => '20200826113011_1598389808.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-26 11:29:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12376', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Balance of Payment in Surplus due to Coronavirus Pandemic', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the external sector of economy despite affecting the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">August 25: Coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the external sector of economy despite affecting the country’s economy. Nepal’s Balance of Payment (BoP) surplus reached Rs 282 billion in the last fiscal year due to the decline in imports while the remittance did not decrease as estimated. A report published by the Nepal Rastra Bank on Monday which sheds light on the economic situation of the country in the last fiscal year showed that the Balance of Payment surplus has increased significantly.</span></span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although the country’s exports were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it also decreased the imports. Nepal’s imports decreased by 15.6 percent to Rs 1196 billion in the last fiscal year as compared to the previous year. The imports had increased by 13.9 percent in the fiscal year 2075/76.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Imports of crude palm oil, soybean, chemical fertilizers, edible oils, computers and its spare parts had increased whereas the imports of petroleum products, means of transportation and their spare parts, MS billets, gold, other machinery and their spare parts had declined in the last fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s exports improved by 0.6 percent during the review period. Nepal exported goods worth Rs 97.71 billion in the last fiscal year. Exports of palm oil, ayurvedic medicines, herbs, plastic utensils, fruits and other items increased while the exports of CGI sheets, wire, polyester yarn and threads, readymade garments, carpets have decreased in the recent times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Contraction of Trade Deficit</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The trade deficit shrunk by 16.8 percent to Rs 1099.9 billion in the fiscal year 2076/77. The deficit had increased by 13.5 percent in the previous year. The ratio of trade deficit to GDP is 29.2 percent. The ratio of export to import has become 8.2 percent in the year under review. This ratio was 6.8 percent in the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Improvement on Foreign Exchange Reserves</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The foreign exchange reserves have improved by 35 percent amounting to Rs 141 billion. The current reserves will be enough to support the imports of 14.4 months’ worth of goods and 12.7 months’ worth of goods and services.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, the current account deficit has decreased from Rs 265.37 billion in the previous year to Rs 32.6 billion last year by 87.9 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Remittance Income Did Not Decrease by Much</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The remittance income has decreased by much less than it was estimated due to coronavirus. Remittance declined by 0.5 percent. The total remittance inflow was Rs 875.3 billion in the last fiscal year. Remittance decreased by 3.3 percent in terms of American dollars. Under normal circumstances, Nepal, in an average has an inflow of remittance of around Rs 73 billion per month. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Increased Inflation</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The rate of inflation was 6.15 percent in the fiscal year 2076/77. According to the annual report published by Nepal Rastra Bank, the average rate of annual inflation on food and beverages has increased by 8.16 percent. The inflation rate was limited to 3.9 percent in the fiscal year 2076/77. Similarly, the rate of inflation on non-food and services group has reached 4.61 percent. The group had an inflation rate of 5.86 percent in the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Gunakar Bhatts, spokesperson for Nepal Rastra Bank, said that even though the overall annual inflation had increased, it declined to some extent till mid-July. However, he expressed that the lockdown since the past 4 months has caused a loss of business for everyone and has decreased the consumption capacity due to the lack of income.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Surplus on Balance of Services</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Balance of Services are in surplus because of the decline in the visit of foreign countries for travel as well as for education in their universities. The net balance of services was in surplus of Rs 1.22 billion in the fiscal year 2076/77 when it was in deficit of Rs 15.23 billion in the previous year. Meanwhile, the travel expenditure account has decreased by 40.1 percent to Rs 53.14 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12123', 'image' => '20200825044730_115237_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 16:47:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12373', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Train Engines and Carriages for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway arrive at Patna', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Two trains for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway have arrived at Hajipur of Patna.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">August 25: Two trains for Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway have arrived at Hajipur of Patna. The train carriages and engines were manufactured by India’s International Coach Factory at a cost of Rs 860 million. The trains have been stranded in Patna due to the crisis created by coronavirus. The pandemic has cast uncertainty over the operation of the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Nepal has paid 20 percent amount for the two trains. The remaining amount will be paid after test operation in Nepal, informed Director General of the Department of Railways, Balaram Mishra. The two trains have the capacity to carry 2,600 people (1,300 each).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The underconstruction Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardibas Railway is 69 kilometers long. A 34-kilometer section of the railway track between Janakpur and Jayanagar is already complete. The trains will be operated along this section for the time being.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Nepal is planning to bring technicians from Indian on contract basis for the operation of the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">Director General Mishra informed that they have reached an understanding with the Indian Railway Board in a recent virtual meeting that the trains would be handed over to Nepal within mid-September. However, he added that the date might be postponed if the current situation persists.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The railways department is preparing to announce vacancy for human resource required to operate the trains. The selected candidates would be sent to India for training, said Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport had earlier sent around a dozen employees to China for training related to railway construction. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The government will have to bear additional cost to pay the Indian technicians for operating the trains for the time being on top of the training expenses of its own employees.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Bangla MN"">The Indian company has given one year’s guarantee for the trains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12122', 'image' => '20200825030614_1598305318.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 15:05:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12372', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Farmers get Good Price for Tea Leaves this Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 25: Dambar Bahadur Katuwal, a tea farmer in Kanyam, Illam, is ecstatic to get a fair price for tea.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">August 25: Dambar Bahadur Katuwal, a tea farmer in Kanyam, Illam, is ecstatic to get a fair price for tea. Tea farmers like Katuwal, who were worried that the lockdown might affect their sales, are now excited as the industries have bought tea for Rs 40 per kg from them. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Suryodaya municipality has fixed a minimum price of tea for farmers at Rs 40. Although some industrialists protested against the pricing of the tea, the tea industry has started buying green leaves at Rs 40 with the farmers after they started going to Darjeeling without processing. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The green leaves are being sold at more than Rs 40 per kg in Illam and Jhapa. Besides orthodox tea, the leaves are plucked for CTC tea. The first tea leaves are used to make green tea for third countries. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">CTC tea is made from the leaves plucked after that. Tea farmers say that even the lowest quality tea leaves are being sold at Rs 30 per kg. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June is considered the middle of tea picking season which starts from April. Since most tea leaves are produced in the mid season, its price tends to be cheaper. However, this time the farmers are relieved as the price of tea has increased at a time when it usually decreases. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shiva Kumar Gupta, manager of Bharatpur-based Star Tea Industry, who has been involved in tea business for two decades, says that he is buying the green leaves at Rs 20 to Rs 22 for manufacturing CTC tea throughout the year in the industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He claims that the price hike this year is highest than previous years. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, the price of green leaves has increased after an increase in demand for Nepali tea in Indian market. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Indian traders have been buying CTC tea at Rs 250 to Rs 300 per kg. The price is double than that of last year. During last year, the price of CTC tea was Rs 130 per kg. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-08-25', 'modified' => '2020-08-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '12121', 'image' => '20200825014401_1598303364.1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-08-25 13:43:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
