Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has announced extension of loan repayment deadline for up to a year for businesses hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.…
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has announced extension of loan repayment deadline for up to a year for businesses hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.…
Nepal’s foreign trade has been severely affected by the four months long lockdown which the government imposed on March 24 to control the transmission of coronavirus.…
Tourism entrepreneurs have warned to start protest if the government does not resume domestic flight operations from August…
With the repayment of bank loans affected by the Covid-19 induced crisis, fears are rising among bankers that the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks if the debtors do not repay their loans soon.…
At a time when the government has claimed to become frugal in public expenses, the latest annual report published by the Office of Auditor General (OAG) has shown worsening of fiscal discipline.…
A committee formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has recommended rejecting the proposal of Munich International Airport of Germany to operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which is under construction at…
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector the hardest in Nepal.…
After banks and financial institutions (BFIs) began to mount pressure on industrialists and business persons to repay the loans with the ending of the current fiscal year nearing, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has demanded to provide extension of principal and interest payment deadline for an indefinite period.…
The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, which will have investment from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), will be ready by mid-October. The completion of DPR of the peaking-run-of-the-river (PROR) hydropower project was initially scheduled for…
Fitch Ratings, which has been assigned for sovereign credit rating of Nepal, has prepared an action plan for conducting credit rating within six months of the next fiscal year.…
The printing of excise duty stickers has stuck in a dilemma even though the stock of the stickers is said to be running out.…
There has been improvement in collection of insurance premium after the easing of the lockdown.…
With the deceleration in the country’s economic growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing to reassess the targets set in the 15th Five Year Plan as the target seem unachievable.…
Seven months after the Supreme Court cleared way for the government to distribute embossed number plates, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has started process for installation of the number plates on vehicles.…
The country’s transportation sector has been mired in various troubles due to the government’s indifference to formulate concrete work procedures to resume the public transport.…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has announced extension of loan repayment deadline for up to a year for businesses hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Presenting the Monetary Policy for fiscal year 2020/21, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said that the central bank has prioritised measures aimed at the reviving the pandemic economic affected sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Monetary Policy for FY2020/21 has received warm welcome from the business sector. Stakeholders have said that the central bank has addressed demands of business associations of various sectors and has incorporated their suggestions in the policy. However, economists and bankers have said that the targets in the monetary policy are challenging to achieve. According to Ganesh Raj Pokharel, CEO of Citizens Bank International, the central bank has taken measures with a view to help both bankers and businesspersons survive during the current crisis. Meanwhile, banking expert AR Bhattarai doubts on the bank’s target to keep inflation rate within the 7 percent range. Bhattarai also views the lending expansion target of 20 percent in the current fiscal year 2020/21 in the monetary policy as challenging. “The target set for the current year is ambitious because last year the lending expansion in the private sector was 10 percent,” said Bhattarai, adding, “Other targets in the monetary policy can be achieved because directive work procedure which comes after the policy further manages and implement it.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><strong><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Extension of Loan Repayment Deadline</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Businesses in tourism, manufacturing, education, communications, healthcare, education and entertainment are entitled to receive the loan restructuring and rescheduling facilities. NRB has put businesses in categories of low, medium and highly affected for repayment of loans. The deadline for repayment of interest and principal amount for such businesses has been extended from 6 months to a year. As per the arrangements, highly affected businesses can repay their loans by mid-July 2021 while the deadline has been extended to mid-April 2021 for medium affected and mid-January 2021 for low affected businesses. Likewise, the repayment deadline can be extended to more than a year for those businesses needing reestablishment in sectors like tourism. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Besides, NRB has also announced refinancing facility, extension of grace period for infrastructure projects and targeted lending for productive sectors at lower interest rates to aid the process of recovery. Similarly, NRB has prioritised lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><strong><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Lending Capacity of Banks in Doubt</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NRB has increased the credit-to-core capital-plus-deposit (CCD) ratioto 85 percent from 80 percent. According to Bhattarai, the arrangement will add an average of Rs 120 billion additional liquidity in the banking system. Nevertheless, Bhuvan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) argues that the existing problems in expansion of loans cannot only be resolved by increasing CDD ratio. “The situation of liquidity will ease to some extent, but it won’t increase the banks’ ability to expand loans. The 20 percent net liquid asset should also need to be addressed. The lending capacity of banks will increase only if both issues are addressed,” he opined. Dahal viewed the restructuring and rescheduling of loans to support the pandemic-stricken business sectors as a positive step to face the challenges created by the Covid-19 crisis. “However, the measures will impact income of banks,” he mentioned. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-19', 'modified' => '2020-07-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11934', 'image' => '20200719041756_Monetary Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-19 16:16:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12186', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pandemic Hits Nepal’s Foreign Trade Hard ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal’s foreign trade has been severely affected by the four months long lockdown which the government imposed on March 24 to control the transmission of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: Nepal’s foreign trade has been severely affected by the four months long lockdown which the government imposed on March 24 to control the transmission of coronavirus. The train traffic at the Birgunj Dry port where containers from overseas and cargoes from different parts of India arrive, has decreased dramatically. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The movement decreased after containers stopped arriving at Kolkata and Visakhapatnam ports in India. As of July 16, only 17 containers, two sacks and five racks of iron have entered the port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The statistics of Himalayan Terminal shows that in average, 70 racks of cargo have entered in the last three months. On the annual train traffic, this number is 95. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Normally, three to four trains come to the port in a day but now hardly a train arrives,” said Bishnukant Chaudhary, CEO of Himalayan Terminal, which operates the Birgunj dry port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Animesh Kumar, a senior official at the Himalayan Terminal, cargo arrivals have dropped further this week. "Not a single rack is likely to arrive on Thursday," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Chaudhary said that while there used to be 25 to 30 racks on the way from Kolkata and Visakhapatnam to Birgunj, it has now dropped to two to four. The terminal said that only two containers and racks of iron from Visakhapatnam were seen on the road on Thursday. There is no pressure of containers coming to Nepal even in this port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Laxmi Khadka, chief of the Kolkata based Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company said that not even 25/30 containers could reach the Kolkata port now which used to receive around 200 containers daily. According to the port management, not a single rack has reached Kolkata in three days. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Entrepreneurs said that the goods of letter of credit (LC) opened before the lockdown have arrived and since the number of LCs has decreased from then, its impact has seen on import. The lockdown was imposed from March 24. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Guru Poudel, director of the Foreign Exchange Management Department of Nepal Rastra Bank, said that very few LCs have been opened for about a month since then. According to him, although the process of opening LC has improved after March, the situation has not become normal. As the validity period of LC is 120 to 150 days, the importer says that the goods of LC before the lockdown have already arrived. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Ashok Kumar Temani, chairman of the Transport and Transit Committee and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) claimed that the import was reduced as the government was only trying to collect taxes from traders and not facilitating business. “Trade has become uncomfortable due to Corona. Credits from the market have not been raised. But the government is not concerned in anything other than collecting taxes and raising revenue,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Although foreign trade has declined, Temani says it will have a cyclical effect on the economy. Importer Suresh Rungta has complained that entrepreneurs are discouraged due to government policy. “The cost of most goods and services has increased due to corona. However, the government is inflexible about the old values and evaluation. Such an impractical policy would further weaken the business,” Rungta told New Business Age. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Both Birgunj custom offices fail to meet revenue targets</span></strong> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Birgunj (ICP) and dry port customs at the main customs checkpoint failed to meet the revenue target in the last fiscal year. Out of the target of Rs 188 billion set for Birgunj customs, only Rs 126 billion has been collected. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Chief Customs Administrator Dhundi Prasad Niraula said that this amount is only 67% of the target. Birgunj customs had raised 72 percent of the target in FY2075/76. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Similarly, the dry port customs office has collected revenue of Rs 36.19 billion. According to customs Chief Umesh Shrestha, the collected revenue is 86 percent of the annual target. A target of Rs 41.88 billion was given to the dry port customs in the last fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Customs officials say the target could not be met as imports were affected by the corona outbreak and lockdown in the last four months of the year. They say the government's control over imports of luxury goods and the decline in foreign trade have had an impact on overall revenue collection. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11933', 'image' => '20200717032225_vigaz train nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12185', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs Demand Resumption of Flight Operations', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Tourism entrepreneurs have warned to start protest if the government does not resume domestic flight operations from August 1.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: Tourism entrepreneurs have warned to start protest if the government does not resume domestic flight operations from August 1. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Organising a joint press conference on Thursday, 35 tourism sector related organisations including Airlines Operators’ Association of Nepal (AAON), Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), Nepal Association of Travel and Tour Operators (NATTO), Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), said that the halt in flights has resulted in zero business for tourism enterprises for the last four months and that the government needs to reopen the domestic airspace ensuring proper health safety measures. Likewise, they also demanded resumption of international flights operation and opening of border checkpoints from August 15.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Tourism entrepreneurs said that that air connectivity is directly linked with overall tourism activities and Nepalis are compelled to pay high air fares for international flights in the absence of regular flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to them,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> liabilities of the entrepreneurs have crossed negative levels putting the one million employment and investment of billions of rupees is in jeopardy.</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Nepal has been hit by Covid-19 pandemic while the tourism sector, in particular, is bearing an unprecedented loss due to closure of hotels, resorts, homestays, air, and public and tourist transport.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Speaking on the occasion, AAON President Captain Rameshore Thapa asked that the government needs to reopen the airspace by following the steps taken by other countries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Binayak Shah, senior vice president of HAN said that the government has not paid attention to attempts made by entrepreneurs to reopen businesses and waiting for the Covid-19 pandemic to end has crippled the tourism sector badly. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NATTA President Achyut Guragain warned that there is no alternative left for entrepreneurs other than to start phase-wise protests if the government declined to address their demands. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11932', 'image' => '20200717031711_airspace nepal.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:14:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12184', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bankers Fear Increase in Bad Loans ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With the repayment of bank loans affected by the Covid-19 induced crisis, fears are rising among bankers that the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks if the debtors do not repay their loans soon. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: With the repayment of bank loans affected by the Covid-19 induced crisis, fears are rising among bankers that the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks if the debtors do not repay their loans soon. The calls made by the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Maha Prasad Adhikari to debtors, who are able to pay their loans, to clear interest and principal amount, have been ignored by the debtors increasing the risk of surge of NPLs, bankers say. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The banks had announced to provide concession on the loans during the time of pandemic. NRB had already decided to give 10 percent concession to those who pay their interest within June 16. But, NPLs of banks in FY2020/21 is likely to increase. Bankers say that the double standard of government and the regulatory body to act well with both banks and the debtors is exacerbating the problems in the banking sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Company Secretary of Agricultural Development Bank, Himlal Poudel says that it is irrelevant to pressurize debtors who have invested in sectors like tourism and transportation which are badly affected by the pandemic. Even after requesting to those who can pay, the repayment of loans is not satisfactory. He further says that Agricultural Development Bank has collected only Rs 500 million from March to June, out of the targeted amount Rs 1.25 billion. “We have provided additional reliefs to our borrowers besides the concessions announced by NRB. We have provided 10 to 60 percent concession in interest rate to those who have borrowed money from us for more than two years, but the recovery of loans hasn’t been as expected, said Poudel.” According to him, NPL of Agricultural Development Bank in March was 3.29 which will increase significantly due to the non-recovery of loans. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NIC Asia bank announced an attractive concession scheme to encourage the borrowers to repay their loans. The bank said that if the debtors pay the entire installment/interest amount by Mid-June, they will receive an additional 10 percent discount in the interest amount and a 100 percent waiver of the penalty interest amount. However, the loan recovery has not been as expected, according to a source at NIC Asia Bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">President of the Nepal Bankers' Association Bhuvan Kumar Dahal said that it is difficult to put pressure on debtors who are already under stress due to the economic slowdown. Therefore, he says, there is a need to take as much as banks can recover the loans by convincing the borrowers. “The current situation for banks is that very few debtors will repay their loans leading to the increase of NPLs of banks,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Dahal, NRB has said that there is no need to calculate NPL of those who have not paid till mid-July. However, the decision has not been made. Even if the NPL is not shown, the bank's interest income is affected. He said that non-recovery of loans will also impact distribution of cash dividends to bank shareholders. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">A banker, under the condition of anonymity, said that the governor had given a verbal assurance that bad loans would not be counted during this period, but as there is no policy as such. The existing rules mandate banks to show their NPLs in the financial statements which will be made public in mid-July. Another banker claims that the governor's assurance that the monetary policy will increase the deadline to those who are unable to pay, restructure, reschedule and other facilities depending on the condition of loans, has led the businessmen not to clear their debts. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11931', 'image' => '20200717031443_NPLs.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:13:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'OAG Report Shows Worsening of Fiscal Discipline', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'At a time when the government has claimed to become frugal in public expenses, the latest annual report published by the Office of Auditor General (OAG) has shown worsening of fiscal discipline. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: At a time when the government has claimed to become frugal in public expenses, the latest annual report published by the Office of Auditor General (OAG) has shown worsening of fiscal discipline. According to the 57<sup>th</sup> OAG Report released on Wednesday, the arrears of the government totaled Rs 418 billion in FY2019/20, an increase of 11 percent compared to the previous fiscal year. OAG audited financial documents of 5,619 government agencies and associated institutions in central, provincial and local levels. The total amount audited was Rs 5,171.64 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to the report, of the total arrears amount of Rs 132 billion,10 percent belong to government ministries with the highest amount (Rs 19.06 billion) belonging to the Ministry of Finance. Similarly, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation has Rs 14 billion, Ministry of Defense has Rs 9 billion, Ministry of Water Supply has Rs 4.28 billion and Prime Minister’s Office has Rs 4 billion in arrears. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to OAG, arrears of agencies under the federal government stood at 4.05 percent while it is 4.33 percent for agencies under provincial governments and 5.15 percent for local levels. Of the total arrears, expenses with no submitted documents are the highest with Rs 44.64 billion while expenditures suspected with irregularities have totaled Rs 17.30 billion. Likewise, amounts in mobilization advance and letter of credits (LCs) stood at Rs 21.40 billion and Rs 10.62 billion, respectively. Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma said that there has been slight improvement in arrears. According to him, highest arrears have been seen in areas such as public procurement and project management. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11930', 'image' => '20200717031305_arrears.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:00:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12182', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rejection of Munich International Airport’s Proposal to Operate GBIA Recommended', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'A committee formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has recommended rejecting the proposal of Munich International Airport of Germany to operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which is under construction at Bhairahawa.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 10: A committee formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has recommended rejecting the proposal of Munich International Airport of Germany to operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which is under construction at Bhairahawa. According to ministry officials, the recommendation was presented due to some legal complications in the proposal presented by Munich. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The cabinet meeting held on May 30, 2019 had decided to operate the Gautam Buddha International Airport on the basis of government-to-government (G2G) agreement instead of open competition. After the decision, Munich Airport had sent a formal proposal to MoCTCA and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on June 2019<strong>.</strong> Munich had offered to give it the responsibility to operate the airport for 50 years. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at MoCTCA said that although Munich’s offer seemed technically appropriate, it is recommended to cancel the proposal as it had legal complications and ambiguity. Lamichhane is the coordinator of the committee formed by the ministry to hand over responsibility for the operation of the airport. Representatives of NAC, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are in the committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to Lamichhane, the committee had assessed the proposal and recommended the government to reject it a few days ago. “Our recommendation is based on some legal complications in the Munich’s proposal. Now further decision will be taken by the government,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to him, the government had called for proposal through G2G, but only one proposal was received. Due to some provision in Public Procurement Act, the proposal cannot be accepted at the moment. “Munich’s proposal is rejected because it is important to know whether any proposal is legally correct or not before accepting,” he mentioned. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The government had preparations to complete the construction work by December 2019, and start the operation from March 2020. However, completion of the construction of the project has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">As per the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai, preparations are being made to complete the work by the end of 2020 and start flights from March 2021. “The pandemic has definitely pushed us back. However, we will complete the construction work by 2020 end and start operation of flights by March 2021,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">As there were no proposals from other countries, there was higher possibility that the German company would have been awarded the contract. But, after their proposal is rejected, there is confusion as to how to proceed after the airport’s construction is completed. Lamichhane said that the government could operate the airport from its own resources and manpower even if no other proposals are received at the moment. “The global marketing and expansion would have been easier with Munich. However, we must prepare for operation ourselves as that possibility has been reduced at the moment due to corona,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Construction period extended due to Corona </span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group, a Chinese government-owned company, was assigned to complete the construction of the airport by December 2017. But due to various reasons, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">the construction deadline was extended for multiple times. This has been again extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to ministry officials, 91 percent of the works have been completed and the construction of a runway and link taxiway connecting the parking bay has been finished during the lockdown period. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Spokesperson of the ministry, Rudra Singh Tamang said that the work of connecting the runway lights has reached the final stage. Similarly, work of installing air conditioning in the terminal building has been started during the shutdown and decoration work is underway. Currently, 275 workers including 29 Chinese have been mobilised for the construction of the airport. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-10', 'modified' => '2020-07-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11929', 'image' => '20200710024104_GBIA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-10 14:39:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12181', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lack of Data Makes Tourism Sector Recovery Difficult', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector the hardest in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 9: The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector the hardest in Nepal. The entire star and non-star hotels across the country are closed, flights are suspended, and travel agencies have become workless in a matter of four months. But what is the actual damage to the sector due to the global health crisis? This is a baffling question because the government doesn’t have credible data. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Three days ago, tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai said that the tourism sector ha incurred a monthly loss of Rs 10 billion during the lockdown period. Speaking at a press conference he estimated that by mid-July the overall loss to the tourism sector would be Rs 41 billion. However, this is a random assessment because the ministry does not have comprehensive data on the amount of damage in different areas of tourism. The government also does not have any official data on how many people lost their jobs from the tourism sector due to Covid-19 pandemic, and how much loan do the tourism entrepreneurs have. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">On the basis of a study conducted by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the ministry estimated the loss and said at the press conference. Bhattarai claims that the details of the loss in the tourism sector have been sent to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning Commission. A committee was formed by NTB and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to study the loss in tourism and aviation sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">However, the study of the Board does not find anything other than a general study of investment and employment in the tourism sector. The report submitted by the board to the MoF does not provide data on how much the sector has lost due to the corona and lockdown. According to a study conducted by the board, more than Rs 1 trillion has been invested in Nepal's tourism sector (including the aviation sector). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Ministry spokesperson Rudra Singh Tamang said that the Ministry of Tourism has estimated the amount of damage as per the details sent by the board and further study is being done by the National Planning Commission. According to private organizations affiliated with tourism, the damage in the tourism sector is much more than the government's claim. Based on the data provided by the private sector, the tourism sector has suffered much more than the government's estimate. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Binayak Shah, senior vice-president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), argues that due to lack of official data from the state and proper coordination with the private sector, there are no reliable figures on the loss. "We have official statistics about organisations affiliated with us. In the three months of the lockdown, the hotel industry has lost more than Rs 2.5 billion in a month. Even after calculating that, we have to bear a loss of more than Rs 10 billion,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Manoj Karki, general secretary of the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal, the domestic aviation has lost between Rs 7-10 billion in the last three months. "Combining the international flights and government flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation, the loss is likely to increase," states Karki. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Similarly, according to Khum Bahadur subedi, president of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, the trekking and mountaineering sector has lost more than Rs 15 billion. The Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (REBAN) has also estimated that 3,500 restaurants in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan have suffered losses of Rs 9-10 billion during the period. President of REBAN Araniko Rajbhandari said the estimated loss would be much higher if other restaurants across the country that are not connected with the organisation. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-09', 'modified' => '2020-07-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11928', 'image' => '20200709035505_tourism sector crisis Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-09 15:51:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12180', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FNCCI Demands Extension of Loan Re-payment Deadline', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'After banks and financial institutions (BFIs) began to mount pressure on industrialists and business persons to repay the loans with the ending of the current fiscal year nearing, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has demanded to provide extension of principal and interest payment deadline for an indefinite period. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">June 9: After banks and financial institutions (BFIs) began to mount pressure on industrialists and business persons to repay the loans with the ending of the current fiscal year nearing, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has demanded to provide extension of principal and interest payment deadline for an indefinite period. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Issuing a press statement, FNCCI requested Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to include this provision in the Monetary Policy for the upcoming fiscal year. The apex body of the Nepali private sector has also asked NRB to bring monetary policy before July 15. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">FNCCI has argued that the deadline for loan repayment needs to be extended until the full revival of the country’s economy also demanding the central bank to restructure and reschedule the lending model. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">FNCCI has claimed that BFIs have been mounting pressure on the businesses to pay the principle and interest before July 15. “But businesses are unable to repay the loan due to the crisis,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The situation is such that many business persons are on the verge of exiting the business sector and it is responsibility of the government to save the businesses at this time of crisis, according to FNCCI. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NRB had extended the loan repayment of principle and interest amount during the lockdown period till July 15. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The lockdown enforced from March 24 by the government to stop the coronavirus transmission has led to the closure of almost all industries across the country. Even after the easing of the lockdown since mid-June, industries have been working on 40 percent of their capacity due to the lack of workers and inadequate supply of raw materials due to disturbances created by the raging Covid-19 cases in neighbouring India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> Pashupati Murarka, past president of FNCCI said that NRB has to bring monetary policy before July 15 and that the policy must address the concerns of industrialists and business persons. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Though the lockdown has eased, industries haven’t opened completely,” added Murarka “A few big industries may be able pay principle and interest of bank loans, but most cannot at this moment.” </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">While launching the monetary policy, NRB should be equally sensible towards the challenges of BFI’s and announce relief accordingly, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-09', 'modified' => '2020-07-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11927', 'image' => '20200709034938_FNCCI.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-09 15:48:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DPR of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project to be Ready by mid-October', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, which will have investment from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), will be ready by mid-October. The completion of DPR of the peaking-run-of-the-river (PROR) hydropower project was initially scheduled for February.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">June 8: The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, which will have investment from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), will be ready by mid-October. The completion of DPR of the peaking-run-of-the-river (PROR) hydropower project was initially scheduled for February. However, due to need of additional study and disturbance created by Covid-19 pandemic, the deadline for finalising DPR had been postponed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Currently, Nepal Engineering Company under the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is preparing the DPR of the project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">It is for the first time EPF has decided to construct a hydropower project on its own. EPF has been allocating some amount from bonuses of its depositors for the development of the 442MW project. Betan Karnali Hydropower Project has been planned to be funded by majority share of EPF depositors. For the purpose, EPF has been working by establishing the Betan Karnali Sanchayakarta Hydropower Company Limited (BKSHCL). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">“Further study was needed as this is a big project. So, the DPR deadline was extended,” said Deepak Rauniyar, managing director of BKSHCL. “It got delayed because of the Covid-19 crisis, but now we have targeted to finalise the DPR by mid-October.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The company received government’s approval for the construction of the project on May 21, 2017. Initially, Betan Karnali Hydropower Project’s capacity was reported at 688MW. Now works are ongoing to prepare its DPR under the reduced capacity of 442MW. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The project, which will cover parts of Achham and Surkhet districts of the Karnali Province, will have investment totaling Rs 76 billion; 70 percent of the investment or Rs 48 billion will be managed from loans while the rest 30 percent or Rs 28 billion will be managed from equity of raised under the leadership of EPF. Of the equity amount, 40 percent will be depositors’ money, 15 percent from EPF, 10 percent from NEA and 10 percent from Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited. The remaining 25 percent equity will be raised from the general public. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF has been allocating 50 percent of depositors’ bonus for the generation of capital for the project for the last three years. The amount has reached more than Rs 4 billion. According to EPF officials, Rs 8.40 billion of depositors’ money will be invested in the project and it will take three more years to collect all the investment required for the construction of the project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF has prioritised domestic banks for loan investment. The fund plans to borrow a total of Rs 48 billion for the project out of which Rs 30-35 billon will be raised from Nepal Infrastructure Bank. The rest of the amount will be raised from capital market and international banks. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF Administrator Tulsi Prasad Gautam said that they will also borrow from international banks. “We are looking forward to raise loan investment from local and international banks. If this doesn’t go well, we will issue bonds,” he inmformed. “The size and capital of Nepali bank is increasing. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">So, we believe that the loans can be raised domestically.” According to Gautam, it will take one and a half to two years for the completion of the financial closure of the project.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-08', 'modified' => '2020-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11926', 'image' => '20200708040941_Betan Karnali Hydropower Project.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-08 16:08:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Rating of Nepal within 6 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Fitch Ratings, which has been assigned for sovereign credit rating of Nepal, has prepared an action plan for conducting credit rating within six months of the next fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 8: Fitch Ratings, which has been assigned for sovereign credit rating of Nepal, has prepared an action plan for conducting credit rating within six months of the next fiscal year. The Ratings Oversight Committee, formed under the coordination of revenue secretary of Ministry of Finance (MoF) had given the task of Nepal’s credit rating to the US-based company three months ago after conducting discussions and studies. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to MoF Spokesperson Uttar Kumar Chhetri, Fitch Ratings, which is considered as one of the finest international agencies in sovereign rating, was given the responsibility of Nepal’s credit rating in Mid-December 2019. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Moody’s, Fitch and Standard and Poor’s are the three major global credit rating agencies. “Among them, we selected Fitch for the purpose of conducing Nepal’s ratings. Before selecting the company, we held discussion with the officials and representatives of government agencies concerned,” said Chintamani Shiwakoti, deputy governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, who is also a member of the committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">However, Fitch has complained about the delay in collection of data required for ratings due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In his budget speech for FY2020/21, Finance Minister Dr Yuva Raj Khatiwada had said that the credit rating of Nepal would be completed within the next six months. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Stakeholders have been urging for sovereign rating saying that the absence of the rating has hugely impacted foreign direct investment (FDI) prospects of Nepal. Nevertheless, about half a dozen banks and financial institutions have borrowed billions of rupees in loans from foreign financial institutions over the last few years. After NRB opened the way for Nepali banks to get loans from foreign financial institutions, NMB Bank has borrowed highest foreign loans. “Foreign financial institutions have trusted us even when the country does not have a credit rating. Once the rating is done, the confidence of the foreign institutions will increase,” mentioned Sunil KC, CEO of NMB bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Statistics related to economic activities in the country, ability to repay loans, trade with other countries and other various aspects are assessed while conducting sovereign rating. According to officials at Credit Rating Oversight Committee, the rating will form a basis for easy access to funds in the international market and sales of bonds. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Experts say that the sovereign rating helps to depict the real economic and financial situation of Nepal internationally. Bhishma Raj Dhungana, Chairman of Securities Board of Nepal says that the rating will determine the level of risks in the country. “Foreigners decide whether or not to invest here based on the ratings. The better the rating, the more could be the investments,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-08', 'modified' => '2020-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11925', 'image' => '20200708012357_Nepal Credit Rating.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-08 13:22:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Excise Duty Sticker Printing Still in Dilemma ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The printing of excise duty stickers has stuck in a dilemma even though the stock of the stickers is said to be running out. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 7: The printing of excise duty stickers has stuck in a dilemma even though the stock of the stickers is said to be running out. The government was preparing to print stickers in the country after the Indonesian security printer Perusahaan Umum Percetakan Uang Republik Indonesia (Perum Peruri), which was assigned with the task of printing excise duty stickers through a global tender, withdrew from the printing process. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) had also studied about handing over the responsibility of sticker printing to the Department of Printing and Janak Educational Material Center (JEMC) for the time being. Director general of the department, Binod Bahadur Kunwar informs that although a study has been conducted regarding the capabilities of these two government companies, the decision about giving responsibility of printing excise sticker has not been made yet. “The quality of stickers printed in the country may not match that of foreign security press. But as an alternative, we had conducted a study of these two companies,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The government has been printing more than 40 types of stickers that are required in different bodies of Ministry of Finance (MoF) abroad through global tender. He further said that after the printing of excise duty stickers became complicated, homework on whether to give the responsibility of printing in abroad or in the country is still being done. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">As there would be extreme shortage of the stickers when the global tender is called, the IRD is in pressure to print the stickers in the country. However, according to a source of MoF, there is no possibility of handing over the responsibility of printing, because of weak capacity of the companies in Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“In the past, the country had to bear huge loss due to the leakage of stickers. Even if we are printing them in the country, it would have taken time as we have to do homework regarding the security,” a senior finance official said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Officials at JEMC say that it is inappropriate to distrust the organisation run by the Ministry of Finance. Mahesh Prasad Timilsina, general manager of JEMC said that they can bring equipment and print the stickers at the price fixed by the government. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">During a discussion regarding sticker printing, the department had informed JEMC about the technology. They also had discussion about printing stickers by bringing new technology and purchasing paper for printing that was insufficient. The JEMC officials believe that delayed decision by IRD to allow domestic companies to print the stickers has created confusion on whether to buy the necessary equipment and papers for printing. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“It takes time even if we buy through short method. The government delaying handing over the responsibility of printing to the center shows that the government is not ready to print the stickers in the country,” a senior JEMC official said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Although the department had given letter of intent to the Indonesian company Perum Peruri to print the stickers through a global tender, the government is further embarrassed after they replied that they could not print the stickers as agreed due to corona. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Garsu Pasaulis of Lithuania, UAB, the second company after Perum Peruri, has filed a lawsuit against the department claiming they should get the contract after breaking the agreement with Perum Peruri. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The department has informed that the old stickers in stock are enough for now, but the decision needs to be taken about new printing soon. “We have to get to the conclusion as soon as possible and we will make decision soon,” said kunwar.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-07', 'modified' => '2020-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11924', 'image' => '20200707042111_Excise duty stickers.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-07 16:19:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12176', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Collection of Insurance Premium Increases', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'There has been improvement in collection of insurance premium after the easing of the lockdown. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 7: There has been improvement in collection of insurance premium after the easing of the lockdown. The collection of insurance premium and renewal fees had reduced due to the restrictions in movement which was announced on March 24. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In normal times, life insurance companies collect Rs 6 billion in insurance premium monthly. However, during the lockdown, the collection went down to Rs 2-3 billion. According to data provided by the Insurance Board (IB), Rs 4.74 billion was collected from mid-May to mid-June. Insurance companies estimate that the collection for this month with exceed that amount. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">There is no exact data about insurance premium collection for this month till now. “Though we are yet to calculate the exact number, the collection has quite increased compared to March, April, May and June,” said Shiva Nath Pandey, president of Nepal Insurers Association. He added that Insurance Sector has been seeing satisfactory growth recently. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The months of April, May, June and July are regarded as the most favorable for insurance business growth. This period is also for renewal of insurance policies. Similarly, the collection of premium is more during mid-June to mid-July as it is the last month the fiscal year. “Insurance agents also need to meet their target to get facilities from the companies. So, this impacts the business,” said Pandey, adding, “Also, there was waiver of fines for delay in paying insurance premium for the last three months.” According to the life insurance companies, there are new policy holders as well. However, the new clients are less in numbers compared to normal times. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Manoj Kumar Lal Karna, CEO of Union Life Insurance says that insurance policy renewal growth is not satisfactory.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“There is an improvement in collection, but it is not up to the mark. Around 25 percent insurance policies will not be renewed this year,” said Karna. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the last fiscal year, life insurance premium collection had increased by 46 percent. But this time, the growth rate might not that that high. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the last fiscal year, life insurance companies had collected premium of more than Rs 70 billion. According to Raju Raman Poudyal, executive director of IB said that the premium collection shall increase to Rs 90 billion. According to him, life insurance companies have collected Rs 70 billion till mid-June. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-07', 'modified' => '2020-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11923', 'image' => '20200707041902_Insurance premium.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-07 16:17:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12175', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Covid-19 Impact: NPC to Reassess Goals of 15th Plan ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With the deceleration in the country’s economic growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing to reassess the targets set in the 15th Five Year Plan as the target seem unachievable. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 6: With the deceleration in the country’s economic growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing to reassess the targets set in the 15<sup>th</sup> Five Year Plan as the target seem unachievable. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The government had planned to implement the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan from the current fiscal year. However, in the first year of implementation of the periodic plan, the country has been forced to experience a severe economic shock due to the pandemic. This situation has led NPC to launch a study to reassess the targets. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Dr Puspa Kandel, vice president of NPC, a study is being conducted to review the existing indices considering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown on the country’s economy from March. “Though Nepal has achieved progress in the per capita income (PCI) and human development index (HDI) in the recent years, it will be difficult for the country to increase its PCI and HDI due to the adverse economic scenario,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">As the targets set in areas such as PCI, HDI, poverty alleviation, government expenditure, private and foreign investment are unlikely to be met, NPC is preparing to make new adjustments in the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. . </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“We will soon reach the conclusion by studying which areas have been affected by the pandemic and the how much it could affect the goals of the 15<sup>th</sup> plan,” said Kandel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to NPC, the impact of pandemic will be seen in the first and second year of implementation of the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. Kandel says that there is a need to improve the trend and priorities in government expenditure to cope with the current crisis. The commission had estimated that this year the country would have reached the target set for the list of developing nations if the Covid-19 crisis had not occurred. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan, the government had aimed to reduce poverty below 10 percent and achieve an average growth rate of 9.6 percent in the next five years. According to NPC officials, the target to reduce unemployment rate from 11.4 percent to 4 percent is unlikely to be met under current circumstances. Other objectives including increasing life expectancy from 69.7 to 72 years, literacy rate to 90 percent and PCI to USD 1,595 will not be met, according to NPC officials. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Economist Keshav Acharya said that the ambitious target of economic growth will not be achieved, and government does not have the capacity to face the current crisis. “The 15<sup>th</sup> Plan has targeted to achieve around 10% economic growth on average yearly. But the big question is how will such an ambitious objective will be met?” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Former vice president of NPC, Jagadish Chandra Pokharel thinks that availing foreign loans will challenging due to the global economic recession. He believes that the country might face economic crisis if the government’s revenue shrinks but its social responsibility increases. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Even though the internal revenue is affected, the current expenditure has not decreased. The pandemic has increased expenditure towards social responsibility, creating imbalance in expenditure system which will exacerbate economic problems in the country,” Pokharel said. According to his analysis, the decline in remittances would further aggravate the economic crisis. “As the number of Nepalis returning from abroad is less now, remittance inflow has not decreased now. The inflow of remittance will decline significantly after two to four months,” he warned.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-06', 'modified' => '2020-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11922', 'image' => '20200706034420_NPC 15th Plan.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-06 15:42:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Embossed Number Plates Installation to Start from mid-July', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Seven months after the Supreme Court cleared way for the government to distribute embossed number plates, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has started process for installation of the number plates on vehicles. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">June 6: Seven months after the Supreme Court cleared way for the government to distribute embossed number plates, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has started process for installation of the number plates on vehicles. DoTM has opened online application for the purpose and the process to install the number plates will start from July 16. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">DoTM in early 2017 had awarded the Rs 4.78 billion contract to a Bangladeshi company Decatur Tiger IT to supply and install the embossed number plates on vehicles. The installation, which started in the same year was halted due to language related problems. Advocate Bharat Kumar Basnet and Rajan Burlakoti filed a petition saying that the plates were imprinted with English language which violated the constitutional provision that mandates the use of Devanagari script in any government work. Chief justice Gopal Parajuli issued an interim order to halt the installation of embossed number plates in February 2018. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In November 2019, a bench comprising Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and five members dismissed the writ and opened way for fixing the embossed number plate. Though DoTM was preparing to install the number plates from February. However, the process got halted due to the lockdown. According to Tirtha Raj Khanal, director of DoTM, has resumed the process with the easing of the lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">DoTM had signed a contract with Decatur Tiger to install embossed number plates on 2.5 million vehicles in five years. As the process got halted due to the interim order, only 4,600 vehicles were installed with the embossed number plates. Khanal said that the company, which has been producing the number plates even after the interim order of the Supreme Court, has already produced 2,00,000 number plates. “The plates are ready. Now, we will move ahead with the installation process,” said Khanal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to DoTM, the number plates vehicles registered in the Bagmati Province will get the new number plates in the first phase. DoTM has allocated four locations at Transport Management Office, Gurjudhara, Vehicle Inspection Centre, Teku, Transport Office, Ekantakuna and Department of Transport Management, Minbhawan for the purpose. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-06', 'modified' => '2020-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11921', 'image' => '20200706034212_embossed num plates.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-06 15:38:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12173', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Indifference Puts Rs 10 billion Investment in Transport Sector at Risk', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The country’s transportation sector has been mired in various troubles due to the government’s indifference to formulate concrete work procedures to resume the public transport. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 5: The country’s transportation sector has been mired in various troubles due to the government’s indifference to formulate concrete work procedures to resume the public transport. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Though, the government has permitted private vehicles to ply on roads, it is yet to allow operation of public vehicles. Transport entrepreneurs say that due to prolonged lockdown, they have not been able to pay installment of bank loans. Similarly, adding to the mounting losses of transport entrepreneurs is damages to vehicles due to non-operation for long time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE), there are around 200,000 vehicles across in the public transportation sector currently with total investment of around Rs 10 billion employing more than 50,00,000 people. According to Saroj Sitaula, general secretary of FNNTE, the government must be serious about plights faced by transport entrepreneurs, workers and the general public. “The government needs to come up with work procedures as soon as possible to allow operation of public transport by implementing necessary health safety measures,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Transport company operators argue that the current situation cannot go forever as damages to vehicles due to keeping idle for long has added to their expenses. Currently, 72 buses of Sajha Yatayat have been parked at the garage. Two buses are now operating at the airport. According to Bhusan Tuladhar, executive director of Sajha Yatayat, the buses need to be repaired. “It is obvious for vehicles to get damaged because of non-operation for long,” he said, “However, we are yet to study about the damages.” Citing examples of other countries where public transportation has resumed after the easing of the lockdown, Tuladhar mentioned that is not difficult to operate public buses by maintaining health safety measures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Mayur Yatayat has also parked its 44 buses. “The government should provide relief to the transport sector. It should have provided us with concessions on interest on loans and extension of loan repayment schedul. But we cannot expect relief measures at the moment as the people in the politics are busy in power struggle,” expressed Mohan Shrestha, chairman of Mayur Yatayat. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Though transport entrepreneur have talked to ministers and other high officials for multiple times over the last few weeks, the government has not decided on the module of operation of public vehicles. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to FNNTE General Secretary Sitaula, the government has not started working anything regarding the resumption of public transport though the entrepreneurs provided their suggestions in written and verbal forms. “We are in official and unofficial discussions with vehicle owners and transport sector workers. Now we are preparing to put pressure on the government for resumption of public transport,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-05', 'modified' => '2020-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11920', 'image' => '20200705035220_public transport.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-05 15:50:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ) ) $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
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has announced extension of loan repayment deadline for up to a year for businesses hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Presenting the Monetary Policy for fiscal year 2020/21, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said that the central bank has prioritised measures aimed at the reviving the pandemic economic affected sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Monetary Policy for FY2020/21 has received warm welcome from the business sector. Stakeholders have said that the central bank has addressed demands of business associations of various sectors and has incorporated their suggestions in the policy. However, economists and bankers have said that the targets in the monetary policy are challenging to achieve. According to Ganesh Raj Pokharel, CEO of Citizens Bank International, the central bank has taken measures with a view to help both bankers and businesspersons survive during the current crisis. Meanwhile, banking expert AR Bhattarai doubts on the bank’s target to keep inflation rate within the 7 percent range. Bhattarai also views the lending expansion target of 20 percent in the current fiscal year 2020/21 in the monetary policy as challenging. “The target set for the current year is ambitious because last year the lending expansion in the private sector was 10 percent,” said Bhattarai, adding, “Other targets in the monetary policy can be achieved because directive work procedure which comes after the policy further manages and implement it.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><strong><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Extension of Loan Repayment Deadline</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Businesses in tourism, manufacturing, education, communications, healthcare, education and entertainment are entitled to receive the loan restructuring and rescheduling facilities. NRB has put businesses in categories of low, medium and highly affected for repayment of loans. The deadline for repayment of interest and principal amount for such businesses has been extended from 6 months to a year. As per the arrangements, highly affected businesses can repay their loans by mid-July 2021 while the deadline has been extended to mid-April 2021 for medium affected and mid-January 2021 for low affected businesses. Likewise, the repayment deadline can be extended to more than a year for those businesses needing reestablishment in sectors like tourism. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Besides, NRB has also announced refinancing facility, extension of grace period for infrastructure projects and targeted lending for productive sectors at lower interest rates to aid the process of recovery. Similarly, NRB has prioritised lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><strong><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Lending Capacity of Banks in Doubt</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NRB has increased the credit-to-core capital-plus-deposit (CCD) ratioto 85 percent from 80 percent. According to Bhattarai, the arrangement will add an average of Rs 120 billion additional liquidity in the banking system. Nevertheless, Bhuvan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) argues that the existing problems in expansion of loans cannot only be resolved by increasing CDD ratio. “The situation of liquidity will ease to some extent, but it won’t increase the banks’ ability to expand loans. The 20 percent net liquid asset should also need to be addressed. The lending capacity of banks will increase only if both issues are addressed,” he opined. Dahal viewed the restructuring and rescheduling of loans to support the pandemic-stricken business sectors as a positive step to face the challenges created by the Covid-19 crisis. “However, the measures will impact income of banks,” he mentioned. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-19', 'modified' => '2020-07-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11934', 'image' => '20200719041756_Monetary Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-19 16:16:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12186', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pandemic Hits Nepal’s Foreign Trade Hard ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal’s foreign trade has been severely affected by the four months long lockdown which the government imposed on March 24 to control the transmission of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: Nepal’s foreign trade has been severely affected by the four months long lockdown which the government imposed on March 24 to control the transmission of coronavirus. The train traffic at the Birgunj Dry port where containers from overseas and cargoes from different parts of India arrive, has decreased dramatically. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The movement decreased after containers stopped arriving at Kolkata and Visakhapatnam ports in India. As of July 16, only 17 containers, two sacks and five racks of iron have entered the port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The statistics of Himalayan Terminal shows that in average, 70 racks of cargo have entered in the last three months. On the annual train traffic, this number is 95. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Normally, three to four trains come to the port in a day but now hardly a train arrives,” said Bishnukant Chaudhary, CEO of Himalayan Terminal, which operates the Birgunj dry port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Animesh Kumar, a senior official at the Himalayan Terminal, cargo arrivals have dropped further this week. "Not a single rack is likely to arrive on Thursday," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Chaudhary said that while there used to be 25 to 30 racks on the way from Kolkata and Visakhapatnam to Birgunj, it has now dropped to two to four. The terminal said that only two containers and racks of iron from Visakhapatnam were seen on the road on Thursday. There is no pressure of containers coming to Nepal even in this port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Laxmi Khadka, chief of the Kolkata based Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company said that not even 25/30 containers could reach the Kolkata port now which used to receive around 200 containers daily. According to the port management, not a single rack has reached Kolkata in three days. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Entrepreneurs said that the goods of letter of credit (LC) opened before the lockdown have arrived and since the number of LCs has decreased from then, its impact has seen on import. The lockdown was imposed from March 24. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Guru Poudel, director of the Foreign Exchange Management Department of Nepal Rastra Bank, said that very few LCs have been opened for about a month since then. According to him, although the process of opening LC has improved after March, the situation has not become normal. As the validity period of LC is 120 to 150 days, the importer says that the goods of LC before the lockdown have already arrived. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Ashok Kumar Temani, chairman of the Transport and Transit Committee and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) claimed that the import was reduced as the government was only trying to collect taxes from traders and not facilitating business. “Trade has become uncomfortable due to Corona. Credits from the market have not been raised. But the government is not concerned in anything other than collecting taxes and raising revenue,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Although foreign trade has declined, Temani says it will have a cyclical effect on the economy. Importer Suresh Rungta has complained that entrepreneurs are discouraged due to government policy. “The cost of most goods and services has increased due to corona. However, the government is inflexible about the old values and evaluation. Such an impractical policy would further weaken the business,” Rungta told New Business Age. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Both Birgunj custom offices fail to meet revenue targets</span></strong> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Birgunj (ICP) and dry port customs at the main customs checkpoint failed to meet the revenue target in the last fiscal year. Out of the target of Rs 188 billion set for Birgunj customs, only Rs 126 billion has been collected. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Chief Customs Administrator Dhundi Prasad Niraula said that this amount is only 67% of the target. Birgunj customs had raised 72 percent of the target in FY2075/76. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Similarly, the dry port customs office has collected revenue of Rs 36.19 billion. According to customs Chief Umesh Shrestha, the collected revenue is 86 percent of the annual target. A target of Rs 41.88 billion was given to the dry port customs in the last fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Customs officials say the target could not be met as imports were affected by the corona outbreak and lockdown in the last four months of the year. They say the government's control over imports of luxury goods and the decline in foreign trade have had an impact on overall revenue collection. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11933', 'image' => '20200717032225_vigaz train nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12185', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs Demand Resumption of Flight Operations', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Tourism entrepreneurs have warned to start protest if the government does not resume domestic flight operations from August 1.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: Tourism entrepreneurs have warned to start protest if the government does not resume domestic flight operations from August 1. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Organising a joint press conference on Thursday, 35 tourism sector related organisations including Airlines Operators’ Association of Nepal (AAON), Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), Nepal Association of Travel and Tour Operators (NATTO), Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), said that the halt in flights has resulted in zero business for tourism enterprises for the last four months and that the government needs to reopen the domestic airspace ensuring proper health safety measures. Likewise, they also demanded resumption of international flights operation and opening of border checkpoints from August 15.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Tourism entrepreneurs said that that air connectivity is directly linked with overall tourism activities and Nepalis are compelled to pay high air fares for international flights in the absence of regular flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to them,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> liabilities of the entrepreneurs have crossed negative levels putting the one million employment and investment of billions of rupees is in jeopardy.</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Nepal has been hit by Covid-19 pandemic while the tourism sector, in particular, is bearing an unprecedented loss due to closure of hotels, resorts, homestays, air, and public and tourist transport.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Speaking on the occasion, AAON President Captain Rameshore Thapa asked that the government needs to reopen the airspace by following the steps taken by other countries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Binayak Shah, senior vice president of HAN said that the government has not paid attention to attempts made by entrepreneurs to reopen businesses and waiting for the Covid-19 pandemic to end has crippled the tourism sector badly. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NATTA President Achyut Guragain warned that there is no alternative left for entrepreneurs other than to start phase-wise protests if the government declined to address their demands. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11932', 'image' => '20200717031711_airspace nepal.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:14:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12184', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bankers Fear Increase in Bad Loans ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With the repayment of bank loans affected by the Covid-19 induced crisis, fears are rising among bankers that the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks if the debtors do not repay their loans soon. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: With the repayment of bank loans affected by the Covid-19 induced crisis, fears are rising among bankers that the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks if the debtors do not repay their loans soon. The calls made by the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Maha Prasad Adhikari to debtors, who are able to pay their loans, to clear interest and principal amount, have been ignored by the debtors increasing the risk of surge of NPLs, bankers say. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The banks had announced to provide concession on the loans during the time of pandemic. NRB had already decided to give 10 percent concession to those who pay their interest within June 16. But, NPLs of banks in FY2020/21 is likely to increase. Bankers say that the double standard of government and the regulatory body to act well with both banks and the debtors is exacerbating the problems in the banking sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Company Secretary of Agricultural Development Bank, Himlal Poudel says that it is irrelevant to pressurize debtors who have invested in sectors like tourism and transportation which are badly affected by the pandemic. Even after requesting to those who can pay, the repayment of loans is not satisfactory. He further says that Agricultural Development Bank has collected only Rs 500 million from March to June, out of the targeted amount Rs 1.25 billion. “We have provided additional reliefs to our borrowers besides the concessions announced by NRB. We have provided 10 to 60 percent concession in interest rate to those who have borrowed money from us for more than two years, but the recovery of loans hasn’t been as expected, said Poudel.” According to him, NPL of Agricultural Development Bank in March was 3.29 which will increase significantly due to the non-recovery of loans. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NIC Asia bank announced an attractive concession scheme to encourage the borrowers to repay their loans. The bank said that if the debtors pay the entire installment/interest amount by Mid-June, they will receive an additional 10 percent discount in the interest amount and a 100 percent waiver of the penalty interest amount. However, the loan recovery has not been as expected, according to a source at NIC Asia Bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">President of the Nepal Bankers' Association Bhuvan Kumar Dahal said that it is difficult to put pressure on debtors who are already under stress due to the economic slowdown. Therefore, he says, there is a need to take as much as banks can recover the loans by convincing the borrowers. “The current situation for banks is that very few debtors will repay their loans leading to the increase of NPLs of banks,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Dahal, NRB has said that there is no need to calculate NPL of those who have not paid till mid-July. However, the decision has not been made. Even if the NPL is not shown, the bank's interest income is affected. He said that non-recovery of loans will also impact distribution of cash dividends to bank shareholders. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">A banker, under the condition of anonymity, said that the governor had given a verbal assurance that bad loans would not be counted during this period, but as there is no policy as such. The existing rules mandate banks to show their NPLs in the financial statements which will be made public in mid-July. Another banker claims that the governor's assurance that the monetary policy will increase the deadline to those who are unable to pay, restructure, reschedule and other facilities depending on the condition of loans, has led the businessmen not to clear their debts. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11931', 'image' => '20200717031443_NPLs.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:13:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'OAG Report Shows Worsening of Fiscal Discipline', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'At a time when the government has claimed to become frugal in public expenses, the latest annual report published by the Office of Auditor General (OAG) has shown worsening of fiscal discipline. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: At a time when the government has claimed to become frugal in public expenses, the latest annual report published by the Office of Auditor General (OAG) has shown worsening of fiscal discipline. According to the 57<sup>th</sup> OAG Report released on Wednesday, the arrears of the government totaled Rs 418 billion in FY2019/20, an increase of 11 percent compared to the previous fiscal year. OAG audited financial documents of 5,619 government agencies and associated institutions in central, provincial and local levels. The total amount audited was Rs 5,171.64 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to the report, of the total arrears amount of Rs 132 billion,10 percent belong to government ministries with the highest amount (Rs 19.06 billion) belonging to the Ministry of Finance. Similarly, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation has Rs 14 billion, Ministry of Defense has Rs 9 billion, Ministry of Water Supply has Rs 4.28 billion and Prime Minister’s Office has Rs 4 billion in arrears. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to OAG, arrears of agencies under the federal government stood at 4.05 percent while it is 4.33 percent for agencies under provincial governments and 5.15 percent for local levels. Of the total arrears, expenses with no submitted documents are the highest with Rs 44.64 billion while expenditures suspected with irregularities have totaled Rs 17.30 billion. Likewise, amounts in mobilization advance and letter of credits (LCs) stood at Rs 21.40 billion and Rs 10.62 billion, respectively. Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma said that there has been slight improvement in arrears. According to him, highest arrears have been seen in areas such as public procurement and project management. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11930', 'image' => '20200717031305_arrears.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:00:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12182', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rejection of Munich International Airport’s Proposal to Operate GBIA Recommended', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'A committee formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has recommended rejecting the proposal of Munich International Airport of Germany to operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which is under construction at Bhairahawa.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 10: A committee formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has recommended rejecting the proposal of Munich International Airport of Germany to operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which is under construction at Bhairahawa. According to ministry officials, the recommendation was presented due to some legal complications in the proposal presented by Munich. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The cabinet meeting held on May 30, 2019 had decided to operate the Gautam Buddha International Airport on the basis of government-to-government (G2G) agreement instead of open competition. After the decision, Munich Airport had sent a formal proposal to MoCTCA and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on June 2019<strong>.</strong> Munich had offered to give it the responsibility to operate the airport for 50 years. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at MoCTCA said that although Munich’s offer seemed technically appropriate, it is recommended to cancel the proposal as it had legal complications and ambiguity. Lamichhane is the coordinator of the committee formed by the ministry to hand over responsibility for the operation of the airport. Representatives of NAC, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are in the committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to Lamichhane, the committee had assessed the proposal and recommended the government to reject it a few days ago. “Our recommendation is based on some legal complications in the Munich’s proposal. Now further decision will be taken by the government,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to him, the government had called for proposal through G2G, but only one proposal was received. Due to some provision in Public Procurement Act, the proposal cannot be accepted at the moment. “Munich’s proposal is rejected because it is important to know whether any proposal is legally correct or not before accepting,” he mentioned. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The government had preparations to complete the construction work by December 2019, and start the operation from March 2020. However, completion of the construction of the project has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">As per the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai, preparations are being made to complete the work by the end of 2020 and start flights from March 2021. “The pandemic has definitely pushed us back. However, we will complete the construction work by 2020 end and start operation of flights by March 2021,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">As there were no proposals from other countries, there was higher possibility that the German company would have been awarded the contract. But, after their proposal is rejected, there is confusion as to how to proceed after the airport’s construction is completed. Lamichhane said that the government could operate the airport from its own resources and manpower even if no other proposals are received at the moment. “The global marketing and expansion would have been easier with Munich. However, we must prepare for operation ourselves as that possibility has been reduced at the moment due to corona,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Construction period extended due to Corona </span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group, a Chinese government-owned company, was assigned to complete the construction of the airport by December 2017. But due to various reasons, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">the construction deadline was extended for multiple times. This has been again extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to ministry officials, 91 percent of the works have been completed and the construction of a runway and link taxiway connecting the parking bay has been finished during the lockdown period. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Spokesperson of the ministry, Rudra Singh Tamang said that the work of connecting the runway lights has reached the final stage. Similarly, work of installing air conditioning in the terminal building has been started during the shutdown and decoration work is underway. Currently, 275 workers including 29 Chinese have been mobilised for the construction of the airport. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-10', 'modified' => '2020-07-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11929', 'image' => '20200710024104_GBIA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-10 14:39:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12181', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lack of Data Makes Tourism Sector Recovery Difficult', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector the hardest in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 9: The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector the hardest in Nepal. The entire star and non-star hotels across the country are closed, flights are suspended, and travel agencies have become workless in a matter of four months. But what is the actual damage to the sector due to the global health crisis? This is a baffling question because the government doesn’t have credible data. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Three days ago, tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai said that the tourism sector ha incurred a monthly loss of Rs 10 billion during the lockdown period. Speaking at a press conference he estimated that by mid-July the overall loss to the tourism sector would be Rs 41 billion. However, this is a random assessment because the ministry does not have comprehensive data on the amount of damage in different areas of tourism. The government also does not have any official data on how many people lost their jobs from the tourism sector due to Covid-19 pandemic, and how much loan do the tourism entrepreneurs have. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">On the basis of a study conducted by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the ministry estimated the loss and said at the press conference. Bhattarai claims that the details of the loss in the tourism sector have been sent to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning Commission. A committee was formed by NTB and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to study the loss in tourism and aviation sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">However, the study of the Board does not find anything other than a general study of investment and employment in the tourism sector. The report submitted by the board to the MoF does not provide data on how much the sector has lost due to the corona and lockdown. According to a study conducted by the board, more than Rs 1 trillion has been invested in Nepal's tourism sector (including the aviation sector). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Ministry spokesperson Rudra Singh Tamang said that the Ministry of Tourism has estimated the amount of damage as per the details sent by the board and further study is being done by the National Planning Commission. According to private organizations affiliated with tourism, the damage in the tourism sector is much more than the government's claim. Based on the data provided by the private sector, the tourism sector has suffered much more than the government's estimate. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Binayak Shah, senior vice-president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), argues that due to lack of official data from the state and proper coordination with the private sector, there are no reliable figures on the loss. "We have official statistics about organisations affiliated with us. In the three months of the lockdown, the hotel industry has lost more than Rs 2.5 billion in a month. Even after calculating that, we have to bear a loss of more than Rs 10 billion,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Manoj Karki, general secretary of the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal, the domestic aviation has lost between Rs 7-10 billion in the last three months. "Combining the international flights and government flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation, the loss is likely to increase," states Karki. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Similarly, according to Khum Bahadur subedi, president of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, the trekking and mountaineering sector has lost more than Rs 15 billion. The Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (REBAN) has also estimated that 3,500 restaurants in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan have suffered losses of Rs 9-10 billion during the period. President of REBAN Araniko Rajbhandari said the estimated loss would be much higher if other restaurants across the country that are not connected with the organisation. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-09', 'modified' => '2020-07-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11928', 'image' => '20200709035505_tourism sector crisis Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-09 15:51:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12180', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FNCCI Demands Extension of Loan Re-payment Deadline', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'After banks and financial institutions (BFIs) began to mount pressure on industrialists and business persons to repay the loans with the ending of the current fiscal year nearing, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has demanded to provide extension of principal and interest payment deadline for an indefinite period. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">June 9: After banks and financial institutions (BFIs) began to mount pressure on industrialists and business persons to repay the loans with the ending of the current fiscal year nearing, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has demanded to provide extension of principal and interest payment deadline for an indefinite period. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Issuing a press statement, FNCCI requested Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to include this provision in the Monetary Policy for the upcoming fiscal year. The apex body of the Nepali private sector has also asked NRB to bring monetary policy before July 15. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">FNCCI has argued that the deadline for loan repayment needs to be extended until the full revival of the country’s economy also demanding the central bank to restructure and reschedule the lending model. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">FNCCI has claimed that BFIs have been mounting pressure on the businesses to pay the principle and interest before July 15. “But businesses are unable to repay the loan due to the crisis,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The situation is such that many business persons are on the verge of exiting the business sector and it is responsibility of the government to save the businesses at this time of crisis, according to FNCCI. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NRB had extended the loan repayment of principle and interest amount during the lockdown period till July 15. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The lockdown enforced from March 24 by the government to stop the coronavirus transmission has led to the closure of almost all industries across the country. Even after the easing of the lockdown since mid-June, industries have been working on 40 percent of their capacity due to the lack of workers and inadequate supply of raw materials due to disturbances created by the raging Covid-19 cases in neighbouring India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> Pashupati Murarka, past president of FNCCI said that NRB has to bring monetary policy before July 15 and that the policy must address the concerns of industrialists and business persons. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Though the lockdown has eased, industries haven’t opened completely,” added Murarka “A few big industries may be able pay principle and interest of bank loans, but most cannot at this moment.” </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">While launching the monetary policy, NRB should be equally sensible towards the challenges of BFI’s and announce relief accordingly, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-09', 'modified' => '2020-07-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11927', 'image' => '20200709034938_FNCCI.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-09 15:48:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DPR of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project to be Ready by mid-October', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, which will have investment from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), will be ready by mid-October. The completion of DPR of the peaking-run-of-the-river (PROR) hydropower project was initially scheduled for February.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">June 8: The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, which will have investment from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), will be ready by mid-October. The completion of DPR of the peaking-run-of-the-river (PROR) hydropower project was initially scheduled for February. However, due to need of additional study and disturbance created by Covid-19 pandemic, the deadline for finalising DPR had been postponed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Currently, Nepal Engineering Company under the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is preparing the DPR of the project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">It is for the first time EPF has decided to construct a hydropower project on its own. EPF has been allocating some amount from bonuses of its depositors for the development of the 442MW project. Betan Karnali Hydropower Project has been planned to be funded by majority share of EPF depositors. For the purpose, EPF has been working by establishing the Betan Karnali Sanchayakarta Hydropower Company Limited (BKSHCL). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">“Further study was needed as this is a big project. So, the DPR deadline was extended,” said Deepak Rauniyar, managing director of BKSHCL. “It got delayed because of the Covid-19 crisis, but now we have targeted to finalise the DPR by mid-October.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The company received government’s approval for the construction of the project on May 21, 2017. Initially, Betan Karnali Hydropower Project’s capacity was reported at 688MW. Now works are ongoing to prepare its DPR under the reduced capacity of 442MW. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The project, which will cover parts of Achham and Surkhet districts of the Karnali Province, will have investment totaling Rs 76 billion; 70 percent of the investment or Rs 48 billion will be managed from loans while the rest 30 percent or Rs 28 billion will be managed from equity of raised under the leadership of EPF. Of the equity amount, 40 percent will be depositors’ money, 15 percent from EPF, 10 percent from NEA and 10 percent from Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited. The remaining 25 percent equity will be raised from the general public. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF has been allocating 50 percent of depositors’ bonus for the generation of capital for the project for the last three years. The amount has reached more than Rs 4 billion. According to EPF officials, Rs 8.40 billion of depositors’ money will be invested in the project and it will take three more years to collect all the investment required for the construction of the project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF has prioritised domestic banks for loan investment. The fund plans to borrow a total of Rs 48 billion for the project out of which Rs 30-35 billon will be raised from Nepal Infrastructure Bank. The rest of the amount will be raised from capital market and international banks. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF Administrator Tulsi Prasad Gautam said that they will also borrow from international banks. “We are looking forward to raise loan investment from local and international banks. If this doesn’t go well, we will issue bonds,” he inmformed. “The size and capital of Nepali bank is increasing. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">So, we believe that the loans can be raised domestically.” According to Gautam, it will take one and a half to two years for the completion of the financial closure of the project.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-08', 'modified' => '2020-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11926', 'image' => '20200708040941_Betan Karnali Hydropower Project.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-08 16:08:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Rating of Nepal within 6 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Fitch Ratings, which has been assigned for sovereign credit rating of Nepal, has prepared an action plan for conducting credit rating within six months of the next fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 8: Fitch Ratings, which has been assigned for sovereign credit rating of Nepal, has prepared an action plan for conducting credit rating within six months of the next fiscal year. The Ratings Oversight Committee, formed under the coordination of revenue secretary of Ministry of Finance (MoF) had given the task of Nepal’s credit rating to the US-based company three months ago after conducting discussions and studies. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to MoF Spokesperson Uttar Kumar Chhetri, Fitch Ratings, which is considered as one of the finest international agencies in sovereign rating, was given the responsibility of Nepal’s credit rating in Mid-December 2019. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Moody’s, Fitch and Standard and Poor’s are the three major global credit rating agencies. “Among them, we selected Fitch for the purpose of conducing Nepal’s ratings. Before selecting the company, we held discussion with the officials and representatives of government agencies concerned,” said Chintamani Shiwakoti, deputy governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, who is also a member of the committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">However, Fitch has complained about the delay in collection of data required for ratings due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In his budget speech for FY2020/21, Finance Minister Dr Yuva Raj Khatiwada had said that the credit rating of Nepal would be completed within the next six months. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Stakeholders have been urging for sovereign rating saying that the absence of the rating has hugely impacted foreign direct investment (FDI) prospects of Nepal. Nevertheless, about half a dozen banks and financial institutions have borrowed billions of rupees in loans from foreign financial institutions over the last few years. After NRB opened the way for Nepali banks to get loans from foreign financial institutions, NMB Bank has borrowed highest foreign loans. “Foreign financial institutions have trusted us even when the country does not have a credit rating. Once the rating is done, the confidence of the foreign institutions will increase,” mentioned Sunil KC, CEO of NMB bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Statistics related to economic activities in the country, ability to repay loans, trade with other countries and other various aspects are assessed while conducting sovereign rating. According to officials at Credit Rating Oversight Committee, the rating will form a basis for easy access to funds in the international market and sales of bonds. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Experts say that the sovereign rating helps to depict the real economic and financial situation of Nepal internationally. Bhishma Raj Dhungana, Chairman of Securities Board of Nepal says that the rating will determine the level of risks in the country. “Foreigners decide whether or not to invest here based on the ratings. The better the rating, the more could be the investments,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-08', 'modified' => '2020-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11925', 'image' => '20200708012357_Nepal Credit Rating.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-08 13:22:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Excise Duty Sticker Printing Still in Dilemma ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The printing of excise duty stickers has stuck in a dilemma even though the stock of the stickers is said to be running out. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 7: The printing of excise duty stickers has stuck in a dilemma even though the stock of the stickers is said to be running out. The government was preparing to print stickers in the country after the Indonesian security printer Perusahaan Umum Percetakan Uang Republik Indonesia (Perum Peruri), which was assigned with the task of printing excise duty stickers through a global tender, withdrew from the printing process. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) had also studied about handing over the responsibility of sticker printing to the Department of Printing and Janak Educational Material Center (JEMC) for the time being. Director general of the department, Binod Bahadur Kunwar informs that although a study has been conducted regarding the capabilities of these two government companies, the decision about giving responsibility of printing excise sticker has not been made yet. “The quality of stickers printed in the country may not match that of foreign security press. But as an alternative, we had conducted a study of these two companies,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The government has been printing more than 40 types of stickers that are required in different bodies of Ministry of Finance (MoF) abroad through global tender. He further said that after the printing of excise duty stickers became complicated, homework on whether to give the responsibility of printing in abroad or in the country is still being done. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">As there would be extreme shortage of the stickers when the global tender is called, the IRD is in pressure to print the stickers in the country. However, according to a source of MoF, there is no possibility of handing over the responsibility of printing, because of weak capacity of the companies in Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“In the past, the country had to bear huge loss due to the leakage of stickers. Even if we are printing them in the country, it would have taken time as we have to do homework regarding the security,” a senior finance official said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Officials at JEMC say that it is inappropriate to distrust the organisation run by the Ministry of Finance. Mahesh Prasad Timilsina, general manager of JEMC said that they can bring equipment and print the stickers at the price fixed by the government. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">During a discussion regarding sticker printing, the department had informed JEMC about the technology. They also had discussion about printing stickers by bringing new technology and purchasing paper for printing that was insufficient. The JEMC officials believe that delayed decision by IRD to allow domestic companies to print the stickers has created confusion on whether to buy the necessary equipment and papers for printing. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“It takes time even if we buy through short method. The government delaying handing over the responsibility of printing to the center shows that the government is not ready to print the stickers in the country,” a senior JEMC official said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Although the department had given letter of intent to the Indonesian company Perum Peruri to print the stickers through a global tender, the government is further embarrassed after they replied that they could not print the stickers as agreed due to corona. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Garsu Pasaulis of Lithuania, UAB, the second company after Perum Peruri, has filed a lawsuit against the department claiming they should get the contract after breaking the agreement with Perum Peruri. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The department has informed that the old stickers in stock are enough for now, but the decision needs to be taken about new printing soon. “We have to get to the conclusion as soon as possible and we will make decision soon,” said kunwar.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-07', 'modified' => '2020-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11924', 'image' => '20200707042111_Excise duty stickers.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-07 16:19:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12176', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Collection of Insurance Premium Increases', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'There has been improvement in collection of insurance premium after the easing of the lockdown. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 7: There has been improvement in collection of insurance premium after the easing of the lockdown. The collection of insurance premium and renewal fees had reduced due to the restrictions in movement which was announced on March 24. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In normal times, life insurance companies collect Rs 6 billion in insurance premium monthly. However, during the lockdown, the collection went down to Rs 2-3 billion. According to data provided by the Insurance Board (IB), Rs 4.74 billion was collected from mid-May to mid-June. Insurance companies estimate that the collection for this month with exceed that amount. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">There is no exact data about insurance premium collection for this month till now. “Though we are yet to calculate the exact number, the collection has quite increased compared to March, April, May and June,” said Shiva Nath Pandey, president of Nepal Insurers Association. He added that Insurance Sector has been seeing satisfactory growth recently. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The months of April, May, June and July are regarded as the most favorable for insurance business growth. This period is also for renewal of insurance policies. Similarly, the collection of premium is more during mid-June to mid-July as it is the last month the fiscal year. “Insurance agents also need to meet their target to get facilities from the companies. So, this impacts the business,” said Pandey, adding, “Also, there was waiver of fines for delay in paying insurance premium for the last three months.” According to the life insurance companies, there are new policy holders as well. However, the new clients are less in numbers compared to normal times. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Manoj Kumar Lal Karna, CEO of Union Life Insurance says that insurance policy renewal growth is not satisfactory.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“There is an improvement in collection, but it is not up to the mark. Around 25 percent insurance policies will not be renewed this year,” said Karna. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the last fiscal year, life insurance premium collection had increased by 46 percent. But this time, the growth rate might not that that high. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the last fiscal year, life insurance companies had collected premium of more than Rs 70 billion. According to Raju Raman Poudyal, executive director of IB said that the premium collection shall increase to Rs 90 billion. According to him, life insurance companies have collected Rs 70 billion till mid-June. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-07', 'modified' => '2020-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11923', 'image' => '20200707041902_Insurance premium.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-07 16:17:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12175', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Covid-19 Impact: NPC to Reassess Goals of 15th Plan ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With the deceleration in the country’s economic growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing to reassess the targets set in the 15th Five Year Plan as the target seem unachievable. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 6: With the deceleration in the country’s economic growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing to reassess the targets set in the 15<sup>th</sup> Five Year Plan as the target seem unachievable. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The government had planned to implement the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan from the current fiscal year. However, in the first year of implementation of the periodic plan, the country has been forced to experience a severe economic shock due to the pandemic. This situation has led NPC to launch a study to reassess the targets. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Dr Puspa Kandel, vice president of NPC, a study is being conducted to review the existing indices considering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown on the country’s economy from March. “Though Nepal has achieved progress in the per capita income (PCI) and human development index (HDI) in the recent years, it will be difficult for the country to increase its PCI and HDI due to the adverse economic scenario,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">As the targets set in areas such as PCI, HDI, poverty alleviation, government expenditure, private and foreign investment are unlikely to be met, NPC is preparing to make new adjustments in the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. . </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“We will soon reach the conclusion by studying which areas have been affected by the pandemic and the how much it could affect the goals of the 15<sup>th</sup> plan,” said Kandel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to NPC, the impact of pandemic will be seen in the first and second year of implementation of the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. Kandel says that there is a need to improve the trend and priorities in government expenditure to cope with the current crisis. The commission had estimated that this year the country would have reached the target set for the list of developing nations if the Covid-19 crisis had not occurred. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan, the government had aimed to reduce poverty below 10 percent and achieve an average growth rate of 9.6 percent in the next five years. According to NPC officials, the target to reduce unemployment rate from 11.4 percent to 4 percent is unlikely to be met under current circumstances. Other objectives including increasing life expectancy from 69.7 to 72 years, literacy rate to 90 percent and PCI to USD 1,595 will not be met, according to NPC officials. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Economist Keshav Acharya said that the ambitious target of economic growth will not be achieved, and government does not have the capacity to face the current crisis. “The 15<sup>th</sup> Plan has targeted to achieve around 10% economic growth on average yearly. But the big question is how will such an ambitious objective will be met?” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Former vice president of NPC, Jagadish Chandra Pokharel thinks that availing foreign loans will challenging due to the global economic recession. He believes that the country might face economic crisis if the government’s revenue shrinks but its social responsibility increases. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Even though the internal revenue is affected, the current expenditure has not decreased. The pandemic has increased expenditure towards social responsibility, creating imbalance in expenditure system which will exacerbate economic problems in the country,” Pokharel said. According to his analysis, the decline in remittances would further aggravate the economic crisis. “As the number of Nepalis returning from abroad is less now, remittance inflow has not decreased now. The inflow of remittance will decline significantly after two to four months,” he warned.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-06', 'modified' => '2020-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11922', 'image' => '20200706034420_NPC 15th Plan.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-06 15:42:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Embossed Number Plates Installation to Start from mid-July', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Seven months after the Supreme Court cleared way for the government to distribute embossed number plates, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has started process for installation of the number plates on vehicles. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">June 6: Seven months after the Supreme Court cleared way for the government to distribute embossed number plates, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has started process for installation of the number plates on vehicles. DoTM has opened online application for the purpose and the process to install the number plates will start from July 16. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">DoTM in early 2017 had awarded the Rs 4.78 billion contract to a Bangladeshi company Decatur Tiger IT to supply and install the embossed number plates on vehicles. The installation, which started in the same year was halted due to language related problems. Advocate Bharat Kumar Basnet and Rajan Burlakoti filed a petition saying that the plates were imprinted with English language which violated the constitutional provision that mandates the use of Devanagari script in any government work. Chief justice Gopal Parajuli issued an interim order to halt the installation of embossed number plates in February 2018. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In November 2019, a bench comprising Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and five members dismissed the writ and opened way for fixing the embossed number plate. Though DoTM was preparing to install the number plates from February. However, the process got halted due to the lockdown. According to Tirtha Raj Khanal, director of DoTM, has resumed the process with the easing of the lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">DoTM had signed a contract with Decatur Tiger to install embossed number plates on 2.5 million vehicles in five years. As the process got halted due to the interim order, only 4,600 vehicles were installed with the embossed number plates. Khanal said that the company, which has been producing the number plates even after the interim order of the Supreme Court, has already produced 2,00,000 number plates. “The plates are ready. Now, we will move ahead with the installation process,” said Khanal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to DoTM, the number plates vehicles registered in the Bagmati Province will get the new number plates in the first phase. DoTM has allocated four locations at Transport Management Office, Gurjudhara, Vehicle Inspection Centre, Teku, Transport Office, Ekantakuna and Department of Transport Management, Minbhawan for the purpose. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-06', 'modified' => '2020-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11921', 'image' => '20200706034212_embossed num plates.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-06 15:38:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12173', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Indifference Puts Rs 10 billion Investment in Transport Sector at Risk', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The country’s transportation sector has been mired in various troubles due to the government’s indifference to formulate concrete work procedures to resume the public transport. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 5: The country’s transportation sector has been mired in various troubles due to the government’s indifference to formulate concrete work procedures to resume the public transport. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Though, the government has permitted private vehicles to ply on roads, it is yet to allow operation of public vehicles. Transport entrepreneurs say that due to prolonged lockdown, they have not been able to pay installment of bank loans. Similarly, adding to the mounting losses of transport entrepreneurs is damages to vehicles due to non-operation for long time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE), there are around 200,000 vehicles across in the public transportation sector currently with total investment of around Rs 10 billion employing more than 50,00,000 people. According to Saroj Sitaula, general secretary of FNNTE, the government must be serious about plights faced by transport entrepreneurs, workers and the general public. “The government needs to come up with work procedures as soon as possible to allow operation of public transport by implementing necessary health safety measures,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Transport company operators argue that the current situation cannot go forever as damages to vehicles due to keeping idle for long has added to their expenses. Currently, 72 buses of Sajha Yatayat have been parked at the garage. Two buses are now operating at the airport. According to Bhusan Tuladhar, executive director of Sajha Yatayat, the buses need to be repaired. “It is obvious for vehicles to get damaged because of non-operation for long,” he said, “However, we are yet to study about the damages.” Citing examples of other countries where public transportation has resumed after the easing of the lockdown, Tuladhar mentioned that is not difficult to operate public buses by maintaining health safety measures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Mayur Yatayat has also parked its 44 buses. “The government should provide relief to the transport sector. It should have provided us with concessions on interest on loans and extension of loan repayment schedul. But we cannot expect relief measures at the moment as the people in the politics are busy in power struggle,” expressed Mohan Shrestha, chairman of Mayur Yatayat. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Though transport entrepreneur have talked to ministers and other high officials for multiple times over the last few weeks, the government has not decided on the module of operation of public vehicles. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to FNNTE General Secretary Sitaula, the government has not started working anything regarding the resumption of public transport though the entrepreneurs provided their suggestions in written and verbal forms. “We are in official and unofficial discussions with vehicle owners and transport sector workers. Now we are preparing to put pressure on the government for resumption of public transport,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-05', 'modified' => '2020-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11920', 'image' => '20200705035220_public transport.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-05 15:50:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ) ) $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
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has announced extension of loan repayment deadline for up to a year for businesses hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Presenting the Monetary Policy for fiscal year 2020/21, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said that the central bank has prioritised measures aimed at the reviving the pandemic economic affected sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Monetary Policy for FY2020/21 has received warm welcome from the business sector. Stakeholders have said that the central bank has addressed demands of business associations of various sectors and has incorporated their suggestions in the policy. However, economists and bankers have said that the targets in the monetary policy are challenging to achieve. According to Ganesh Raj Pokharel, CEO of Citizens Bank International, the central bank has taken measures with a view to help both bankers and businesspersons survive during the current crisis. Meanwhile, banking expert AR Bhattarai doubts on the bank’s target to keep inflation rate within the 7 percent range. Bhattarai also views the lending expansion target of 20 percent in the current fiscal year 2020/21 in the monetary policy as challenging. “The target set for the current year is ambitious because last year the lending expansion in the private sector was 10 percent,” said Bhattarai, adding, “Other targets in the monetary policy can be achieved because directive work procedure which comes after the policy further manages and implement it.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><strong><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Extension of Loan Repayment Deadline</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Businesses in tourism, manufacturing, education, communications, healthcare, education and entertainment are entitled to receive the loan restructuring and rescheduling facilities. NRB has put businesses in categories of low, medium and highly affected for repayment of loans. The deadline for repayment of interest and principal amount for such businesses has been extended from 6 months to a year. As per the arrangements, highly affected businesses can repay their loans by mid-July 2021 while the deadline has been extended to mid-April 2021 for medium affected and mid-January 2021 for low affected businesses. Likewise, the repayment deadline can be extended to more than a year for those businesses needing reestablishment in sectors like tourism. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Besides, NRB has also announced refinancing facility, extension of grace period for infrastructure projects and targeted lending for productive sectors at lower interest rates to aid the process of recovery. Similarly, NRB has prioritised lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><strong><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Lending Capacity of Banks in Doubt</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NRB has increased the credit-to-core capital-plus-deposit (CCD) ratioto 85 percent from 80 percent. According to Bhattarai, the arrangement will add an average of Rs 120 billion additional liquidity in the banking system. Nevertheless, Bhuvan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) argues that the existing problems in expansion of loans cannot only be resolved by increasing CDD ratio. “The situation of liquidity will ease to some extent, but it won’t increase the banks’ ability to expand loans. The 20 percent net liquid asset should also need to be addressed. The lending capacity of banks will increase only if both issues are addressed,” he opined. Dahal viewed the restructuring and rescheduling of loans to support the pandemic-stricken business sectors as a positive step to face the challenges created by the Covid-19 crisis. “However, the measures will impact income of banks,” he mentioned. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-19', 'modified' => '2020-07-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11934', 'image' => '20200719041756_Monetary Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-19 16:16:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12186', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pandemic Hits Nepal’s Foreign Trade Hard ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal’s foreign trade has been severely affected by the four months long lockdown which the government imposed on March 24 to control the transmission of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: Nepal’s foreign trade has been severely affected by the four months long lockdown which the government imposed on March 24 to control the transmission of coronavirus. The train traffic at the Birgunj Dry port where containers from overseas and cargoes from different parts of India arrive, has decreased dramatically. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The movement decreased after containers stopped arriving at Kolkata and Visakhapatnam ports in India. As of July 16, only 17 containers, two sacks and five racks of iron have entered the port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The statistics of Himalayan Terminal shows that in average, 70 racks of cargo have entered in the last three months. On the annual train traffic, this number is 95. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Normally, three to four trains come to the port in a day but now hardly a train arrives,” said Bishnukant Chaudhary, CEO of Himalayan Terminal, which operates the Birgunj dry port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Animesh Kumar, a senior official at the Himalayan Terminal, cargo arrivals have dropped further this week. "Not a single rack is likely to arrive on Thursday," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Chaudhary said that while there used to be 25 to 30 racks on the way from Kolkata and Visakhapatnam to Birgunj, it has now dropped to two to four. The terminal said that only two containers and racks of iron from Visakhapatnam were seen on the road on Thursday. There is no pressure of containers coming to Nepal even in this port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Laxmi Khadka, chief of the Kolkata based Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company said that not even 25/30 containers could reach the Kolkata port now which used to receive around 200 containers daily. According to the port management, not a single rack has reached Kolkata in three days. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Entrepreneurs said that the goods of letter of credit (LC) opened before the lockdown have arrived and since the number of LCs has decreased from then, its impact has seen on import. The lockdown was imposed from March 24. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Guru Poudel, director of the Foreign Exchange Management Department of Nepal Rastra Bank, said that very few LCs have been opened for about a month since then. According to him, although the process of opening LC has improved after March, the situation has not become normal. As the validity period of LC is 120 to 150 days, the importer says that the goods of LC before the lockdown have already arrived. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Ashok Kumar Temani, chairman of the Transport and Transit Committee and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) claimed that the import was reduced as the government was only trying to collect taxes from traders and not facilitating business. “Trade has become uncomfortable due to Corona. Credits from the market have not been raised. But the government is not concerned in anything other than collecting taxes and raising revenue,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Although foreign trade has declined, Temani says it will have a cyclical effect on the economy. Importer Suresh Rungta has complained that entrepreneurs are discouraged due to government policy. “The cost of most goods and services has increased due to corona. However, the government is inflexible about the old values and evaluation. Such an impractical policy would further weaken the business,” Rungta told New Business Age. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Both Birgunj custom offices fail to meet revenue targets</span></strong> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Birgunj (ICP) and dry port customs at the main customs checkpoint failed to meet the revenue target in the last fiscal year. Out of the target of Rs 188 billion set for Birgunj customs, only Rs 126 billion has been collected. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Chief Customs Administrator Dhundi Prasad Niraula said that this amount is only 67% of the target. Birgunj customs had raised 72 percent of the target in FY2075/76. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Similarly, the dry port customs office has collected revenue of Rs 36.19 billion. According to customs Chief Umesh Shrestha, the collected revenue is 86 percent of the annual target. A target of Rs 41.88 billion was given to the dry port customs in the last fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Customs officials say the target could not be met as imports were affected by the corona outbreak and lockdown in the last four months of the year. They say the government's control over imports of luxury goods and the decline in foreign trade have had an impact on overall revenue collection. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11933', 'image' => '20200717032225_vigaz train nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12185', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs Demand Resumption of Flight Operations', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Tourism entrepreneurs have warned to start protest if the government does not resume domestic flight operations from August 1.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: Tourism entrepreneurs have warned to start protest if the government does not resume domestic flight operations from August 1. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Organising a joint press conference on Thursday, 35 tourism sector related organisations including Airlines Operators’ Association of Nepal (AAON), Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), Nepal Association of Travel and Tour Operators (NATTO), Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), said that the halt in flights has resulted in zero business for tourism enterprises for the last four months and that the government needs to reopen the domestic airspace ensuring proper health safety measures. Likewise, they also demanded resumption of international flights operation and opening of border checkpoints from August 15.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Tourism entrepreneurs said that that air connectivity is directly linked with overall tourism activities and Nepalis are compelled to pay high air fares for international flights in the absence of regular flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to them,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> liabilities of the entrepreneurs have crossed negative levels putting the one million employment and investment of billions of rupees is in jeopardy.</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Nepal has been hit by Covid-19 pandemic while the tourism sector, in particular, is bearing an unprecedented loss due to closure of hotels, resorts, homestays, air, and public and tourist transport.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Speaking on the occasion, AAON President Captain Rameshore Thapa asked that the government needs to reopen the airspace by following the steps taken by other countries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Binayak Shah, senior vice president of HAN said that the government has not paid attention to attempts made by entrepreneurs to reopen businesses and waiting for the Covid-19 pandemic to end has crippled the tourism sector badly. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NATTA President Achyut Guragain warned that there is no alternative left for entrepreneurs other than to start phase-wise protests if the government declined to address their demands. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11932', 'image' => '20200717031711_airspace nepal.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:14:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12184', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bankers Fear Increase in Bad Loans ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With the repayment of bank loans affected by the Covid-19 induced crisis, fears are rising among bankers that the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks if the debtors do not repay their loans soon. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: With the repayment of bank loans affected by the Covid-19 induced crisis, fears are rising among bankers that the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks if the debtors do not repay their loans soon. The calls made by the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Maha Prasad Adhikari to debtors, who are able to pay their loans, to clear interest and principal amount, have been ignored by the debtors increasing the risk of surge of NPLs, bankers say. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The banks had announced to provide concession on the loans during the time of pandemic. NRB had already decided to give 10 percent concession to those who pay their interest within June 16. But, NPLs of banks in FY2020/21 is likely to increase. Bankers say that the double standard of government and the regulatory body to act well with both banks and the debtors is exacerbating the problems in the banking sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Company Secretary of Agricultural Development Bank, Himlal Poudel says that it is irrelevant to pressurize debtors who have invested in sectors like tourism and transportation which are badly affected by the pandemic. Even after requesting to those who can pay, the repayment of loans is not satisfactory. He further says that Agricultural Development Bank has collected only Rs 500 million from March to June, out of the targeted amount Rs 1.25 billion. “We have provided additional reliefs to our borrowers besides the concessions announced by NRB. We have provided 10 to 60 percent concession in interest rate to those who have borrowed money from us for more than two years, but the recovery of loans hasn’t been as expected, said Poudel.” According to him, NPL of Agricultural Development Bank in March was 3.29 which will increase significantly due to the non-recovery of loans. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NIC Asia bank announced an attractive concession scheme to encourage the borrowers to repay their loans. The bank said that if the debtors pay the entire installment/interest amount by Mid-June, they will receive an additional 10 percent discount in the interest amount and a 100 percent waiver of the penalty interest amount. However, the loan recovery has not been as expected, according to a source at NIC Asia Bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">President of the Nepal Bankers' Association Bhuvan Kumar Dahal said that it is difficult to put pressure on debtors who are already under stress due to the economic slowdown. Therefore, he says, there is a need to take as much as banks can recover the loans by convincing the borrowers. “The current situation for banks is that very few debtors will repay their loans leading to the increase of NPLs of banks,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Dahal, NRB has said that there is no need to calculate NPL of those who have not paid till mid-July. However, the decision has not been made. Even if the NPL is not shown, the bank's interest income is affected. He said that non-recovery of loans will also impact distribution of cash dividends to bank shareholders. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">A banker, under the condition of anonymity, said that the governor had given a verbal assurance that bad loans would not be counted during this period, but as there is no policy as such. The existing rules mandate banks to show their NPLs in the financial statements which will be made public in mid-July. Another banker claims that the governor's assurance that the monetary policy will increase the deadline to those who are unable to pay, restructure, reschedule and other facilities depending on the condition of loans, has led the businessmen not to clear their debts. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11931', 'image' => '20200717031443_NPLs.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:13:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'OAG Report Shows Worsening of Fiscal Discipline', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'At a time when the government has claimed to become frugal in public expenses, the latest annual report published by the Office of Auditor General (OAG) has shown worsening of fiscal discipline. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: At a time when the government has claimed to become frugal in public expenses, the latest annual report published by the Office of Auditor General (OAG) has shown worsening of fiscal discipline. According to the 57<sup>th</sup> OAG Report released on Wednesday, the arrears of the government totaled Rs 418 billion in FY2019/20, an increase of 11 percent compared to the previous fiscal year. OAG audited financial documents of 5,619 government agencies and associated institutions in central, provincial and local levels. The total amount audited was Rs 5,171.64 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to the report, of the total arrears amount of Rs 132 billion,10 percent belong to government ministries with the highest amount (Rs 19.06 billion) belonging to the Ministry of Finance. Similarly, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation has Rs 14 billion, Ministry of Defense has Rs 9 billion, Ministry of Water Supply has Rs 4.28 billion and Prime Minister’s Office has Rs 4 billion in arrears. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to OAG, arrears of agencies under the federal government stood at 4.05 percent while it is 4.33 percent for agencies under provincial governments and 5.15 percent for local levels. Of the total arrears, expenses with no submitted documents are the highest with Rs 44.64 billion while expenditures suspected with irregularities have totaled Rs 17.30 billion. Likewise, amounts in mobilization advance and letter of credits (LCs) stood at Rs 21.40 billion and Rs 10.62 billion, respectively. Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma said that there has been slight improvement in arrears. According to him, highest arrears have been seen in areas such as public procurement and project management. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11930', 'image' => '20200717031305_arrears.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:00:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12182', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rejection of Munich International Airport’s Proposal to Operate GBIA Recommended', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'A committee formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has recommended rejecting the proposal of Munich International Airport of Germany to operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which is under construction at Bhairahawa.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 10: A committee formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has recommended rejecting the proposal of Munich International Airport of Germany to operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which is under construction at Bhairahawa. According to ministry officials, the recommendation was presented due to some legal complications in the proposal presented by Munich. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The cabinet meeting held on May 30, 2019 had decided to operate the Gautam Buddha International Airport on the basis of government-to-government (G2G) agreement instead of open competition. After the decision, Munich Airport had sent a formal proposal to MoCTCA and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on June 2019<strong>.</strong> Munich had offered to give it the responsibility to operate the airport for 50 years. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at MoCTCA said that although Munich’s offer seemed technically appropriate, it is recommended to cancel the proposal as it had legal complications and ambiguity. Lamichhane is the coordinator of the committee formed by the ministry to hand over responsibility for the operation of the airport. Representatives of NAC, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are in the committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to Lamichhane, the committee had assessed the proposal and recommended the government to reject it a few days ago. “Our recommendation is based on some legal complications in the Munich’s proposal. Now further decision will be taken by the government,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to him, the government had called for proposal through G2G, but only one proposal was received. Due to some provision in Public Procurement Act, the proposal cannot be accepted at the moment. “Munich’s proposal is rejected because it is important to know whether any proposal is legally correct or not before accepting,” he mentioned. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The government had preparations to complete the construction work by December 2019, and start the operation from March 2020. However, completion of the construction of the project has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">As per the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai, preparations are being made to complete the work by the end of 2020 and start flights from March 2021. “The pandemic has definitely pushed us back. However, we will complete the construction work by 2020 end and start operation of flights by March 2021,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">As there were no proposals from other countries, there was higher possibility that the German company would have been awarded the contract. But, after their proposal is rejected, there is confusion as to how to proceed after the airport’s construction is completed. Lamichhane said that the government could operate the airport from its own resources and manpower even if no other proposals are received at the moment. “The global marketing and expansion would have been easier with Munich. However, we must prepare for operation ourselves as that possibility has been reduced at the moment due to corona,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Construction period extended due to Corona </span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group, a Chinese government-owned company, was assigned to complete the construction of the airport by December 2017. But due to various reasons, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">the construction deadline was extended for multiple times. This has been again extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to ministry officials, 91 percent of the works have been completed and the construction of a runway and link taxiway connecting the parking bay has been finished during the lockdown period. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Spokesperson of the ministry, Rudra Singh Tamang said that the work of connecting the runway lights has reached the final stage. Similarly, work of installing air conditioning in the terminal building has been started during the shutdown and decoration work is underway. Currently, 275 workers including 29 Chinese have been mobilised for the construction of the airport. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-10', 'modified' => '2020-07-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11929', 'image' => '20200710024104_GBIA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-10 14:39:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12181', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lack of Data Makes Tourism Sector Recovery Difficult', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector the hardest in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 9: The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector the hardest in Nepal. The entire star and non-star hotels across the country are closed, flights are suspended, and travel agencies have become workless in a matter of four months. But what is the actual damage to the sector due to the global health crisis? This is a baffling question because the government doesn’t have credible data. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Three days ago, tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai said that the tourism sector ha incurred a monthly loss of Rs 10 billion during the lockdown period. Speaking at a press conference he estimated that by mid-July the overall loss to the tourism sector would be Rs 41 billion. However, this is a random assessment because the ministry does not have comprehensive data on the amount of damage in different areas of tourism. The government also does not have any official data on how many people lost their jobs from the tourism sector due to Covid-19 pandemic, and how much loan do the tourism entrepreneurs have. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">On the basis of a study conducted by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the ministry estimated the loss and said at the press conference. Bhattarai claims that the details of the loss in the tourism sector have been sent to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning Commission. A committee was formed by NTB and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to study the loss in tourism and aviation sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">However, the study of the Board does not find anything other than a general study of investment and employment in the tourism sector. The report submitted by the board to the MoF does not provide data on how much the sector has lost due to the corona and lockdown. According to a study conducted by the board, more than Rs 1 trillion has been invested in Nepal's tourism sector (including the aviation sector). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Ministry spokesperson Rudra Singh Tamang said that the Ministry of Tourism has estimated the amount of damage as per the details sent by the board and further study is being done by the National Planning Commission. According to private organizations affiliated with tourism, the damage in the tourism sector is much more than the government's claim. Based on the data provided by the private sector, the tourism sector has suffered much more than the government's estimate. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Binayak Shah, senior vice-president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), argues that due to lack of official data from the state and proper coordination with the private sector, there are no reliable figures on the loss. "We have official statistics about organisations affiliated with us. In the three months of the lockdown, the hotel industry has lost more than Rs 2.5 billion in a month. Even after calculating that, we have to bear a loss of more than Rs 10 billion,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Manoj Karki, general secretary of the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal, the domestic aviation has lost between Rs 7-10 billion in the last three months. "Combining the international flights and government flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation, the loss is likely to increase," states Karki. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Similarly, according to Khum Bahadur subedi, president of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, the trekking and mountaineering sector has lost more than Rs 15 billion. The Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (REBAN) has also estimated that 3,500 restaurants in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan have suffered losses of Rs 9-10 billion during the period. President of REBAN Araniko Rajbhandari said the estimated loss would be much higher if other restaurants across the country that are not connected with the organisation. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-09', 'modified' => '2020-07-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11928', 'image' => '20200709035505_tourism sector crisis Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-09 15:51:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12180', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FNCCI Demands Extension of Loan Re-payment Deadline', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'After banks and financial institutions (BFIs) began to mount pressure on industrialists and business persons to repay the loans with the ending of the current fiscal year nearing, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has demanded to provide extension of principal and interest payment deadline for an indefinite period. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">June 9: After banks and financial institutions (BFIs) began to mount pressure on industrialists and business persons to repay the loans with the ending of the current fiscal year nearing, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has demanded to provide extension of principal and interest payment deadline for an indefinite period. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Issuing a press statement, FNCCI requested Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to include this provision in the Monetary Policy for the upcoming fiscal year. The apex body of the Nepali private sector has also asked NRB to bring monetary policy before July 15. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">FNCCI has argued that the deadline for loan repayment needs to be extended until the full revival of the country’s economy also demanding the central bank to restructure and reschedule the lending model. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">FNCCI has claimed that BFIs have been mounting pressure on the businesses to pay the principle and interest before July 15. “But businesses are unable to repay the loan due to the crisis,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The situation is such that many business persons are on the verge of exiting the business sector and it is responsibility of the government to save the businesses at this time of crisis, according to FNCCI. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NRB had extended the loan repayment of principle and interest amount during the lockdown period till July 15. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The lockdown enforced from March 24 by the government to stop the coronavirus transmission has led to the closure of almost all industries across the country. Even after the easing of the lockdown since mid-June, industries have been working on 40 percent of their capacity due to the lack of workers and inadequate supply of raw materials due to disturbances created by the raging Covid-19 cases in neighbouring India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> Pashupati Murarka, past president of FNCCI said that NRB has to bring monetary policy before July 15 and that the policy must address the concerns of industrialists and business persons. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Though the lockdown has eased, industries haven’t opened completely,” added Murarka “A few big industries may be able pay principle and interest of bank loans, but most cannot at this moment.” </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">While launching the monetary policy, NRB should be equally sensible towards the challenges of BFI’s and announce relief accordingly, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-09', 'modified' => '2020-07-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11927', 'image' => '20200709034938_FNCCI.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-09 15:48:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DPR of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project to be Ready by mid-October', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, which will have investment from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), will be ready by mid-October. The completion of DPR of the peaking-run-of-the-river (PROR) hydropower project was initially scheduled for February.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">June 8: The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, which will have investment from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), will be ready by mid-October. The completion of DPR of the peaking-run-of-the-river (PROR) hydropower project was initially scheduled for February. However, due to need of additional study and disturbance created by Covid-19 pandemic, the deadline for finalising DPR had been postponed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Currently, Nepal Engineering Company under the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is preparing the DPR of the project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">It is for the first time EPF has decided to construct a hydropower project on its own. EPF has been allocating some amount from bonuses of its depositors for the development of the 442MW project. Betan Karnali Hydropower Project has been planned to be funded by majority share of EPF depositors. For the purpose, EPF has been working by establishing the Betan Karnali Sanchayakarta Hydropower Company Limited (BKSHCL). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">“Further study was needed as this is a big project. So, the DPR deadline was extended,” said Deepak Rauniyar, managing director of BKSHCL. “It got delayed because of the Covid-19 crisis, but now we have targeted to finalise the DPR by mid-October.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The company received government’s approval for the construction of the project on May 21, 2017. Initially, Betan Karnali Hydropower Project’s capacity was reported at 688MW. Now works are ongoing to prepare its DPR under the reduced capacity of 442MW. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The project, which will cover parts of Achham and Surkhet districts of the Karnali Province, will have investment totaling Rs 76 billion; 70 percent of the investment or Rs 48 billion will be managed from loans while the rest 30 percent or Rs 28 billion will be managed from equity of raised under the leadership of EPF. Of the equity amount, 40 percent will be depositors’ money, 15 percent from EPF, 10 percent from NEA and 10 percent from Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited. The remaining 25 percent equity will be raised from the general public. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF has been allocating 50 percent of depositors’ bonus for the generation of capital for the project for the last three years. The amount has reached more than Rs 4 billion. According to EPF officials, Rs 8.40 billion of depositors’ money will be invested in the project and it will take three more years to collect all the investment required for the construction of the project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF has prioritised domestic banks for loan investment. The fund plans to borrow a total of Rs 48 billion for the project out of which Rs 30-35 billon will be raised from Nepal Infrastructure Bank. The rest of the amount will be raised from capital market and international banks. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF Administrator Tulsi Prasad Gautam said that they will also borrow from international banks. “We are looking forward to raise loan investment from local and international banks. If this doesn’t go well, we will issue bonds,” he inmformed. “The size and capital of Nepali bank is increasing. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">So, we believe that the loans can be raised domestically.” According to Gautam, it will take one and a half to two years for the completion of the financial closure of the project.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-08', 'modified' => '2020-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11926', 'image' => '20200708040941_Betan Karnali Hydropower Project.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-08 16:08:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Rating of Nepal within 6 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Fitch Ratings, which has been assigned for sovereign credit rating of Nepal, has prepared an action plan for conducting credit rating within six months of the next fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 8: Fitch Ratings, which has been assigned for sovereign credit rating of Nepal, has prepared an action plan for conducting credit rating within six months of the next fiscal year. The Ratings Oversight Committee, formed under the coordination of revenue secretary of Ministry of Finance (MoF) had given the task of Nepal’s credit rating to the US-based company three months ago after conducting discussions and studies. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to MoF Spokesperson Uttar Kumar Chhetri, Fitch Ratings, which is considered as one of the finest international agencies in sovereign rating, was given the responsibility of Nepal’s credit rating in Mid-December 2019. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Moody’s, Fitch and Standard and Poor’s are the three major global credit rating agencies. “Among them, we selected Fitch for the purpose of conducing Nepal’s ratings. Before selecting the company, we held discussion with the officials and representatives of government agencies concerned,” said Chintamani Shiwakoti, deputy governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, who is also a member of the committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">However, Fitch has complained about the delay in collection of data required for ratings due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In his budget speech for FY2020/21, Finance Minister Dr Yuva Raj Khatiwada had said that the credit rating of Nepal would be completed within the next six months. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Stakeholders have been urging for sovereign rating saying that the absence of the rating has hugely impacted foreign direct investment (FDI) prospects of Nepal. Nevertheless, about half a dozen banks and financial institutions have borrowed billions of rupees in loans from foreign financial institutions over the last few years. After NRB opened the way for Nepali banks to get loans from foreign financial institutions, NMB Bank has borrowed highest foreign loans. “Foreign financial institutions have trusted us even when the country does not have a credit rating. Once the rating is done, the confidence of the foreign institutions will increase,” mentioned Sunil KC, CEO of NMB bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Statistics related to economic activities in the country, ability to repay loans, trade with other countries and other various aspects are assessed while conducting sovereign rating. According to officials at Credit Rating Oversight Committee, the rating will form a basis for easy access to funds in the international market and sales of bonds. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Experts say that the sovereign rating helps to depict the real economic and financial situation of Nepal internationally. Bhishma Raj Dhungana, Chairman of Securities Board of Nepal says that the rating will determine the level of risks in the country. “Foreigners decide whether or not to invest here based on the ratings. The better the rating, the more could be the investments,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-08', 'modified' => '2020-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11925', 'image' => '20200708012357_Nepal Credit Rating.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-08 13:22:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Excise Duty Sticker Printing Still in Dilemma ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The printing of excise duty stickers has stuck in a dilemma even though the stock of the stickers is said to be running out. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 7: The printing of excise duty stickers has stuck in a dilemma even though the stock of the stickers is said to be running out. The government was preparing to print stickers in the country after the Indonesian security printer Perusahaan Umum Percetakan Uang Republik Indonesia (Perum Peruri), which was assigned with the task of printing excise duty stickers through a global tender, withdrew from the printing process. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) had also studied about handing over the responsibility of sticker printing to the Department of Printing and Janak Educational Material Center (JEMC) for the time being. Director general of the department, Binod Bahadur Kunwar informs that although a study has been conducted regarding the capabilities of these two government companies, the decision about giving responsibility of printing excise sticker has not been made yet. “The quality of stickers printed in the country may not match that of foreign security press. But as an alternative, we had conducted a study of these two companies,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The government has been printing more than 40 types of stickers that are required in different bodies of Ministry of Finance (MoF) abroad through global tender. He further said that after the printing of excise duty stickers became complicated, homework on whether to give the responsibility of printing in abroad or in the country is still being done. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">As there would be extreme shortage of the stickers when the global tender is called, the IRD is in pressure to print the stickers in the country. However, according to a source of MoF, there is no possibility of handing over the responsibility of printing, because of weak capacity of the companies in Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“In the past, the country had to bear huge loss due to the leakage of stickers. Even if we are printing them in the country, it would have taken time as we have to do homework regarding the security,” a senior finance official said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Officials at JEMC say that it is inappropriate to distrust the organisation run by the Ministry of Finance. Mahesh Prasad Timilsina, general manager of JEMC said that they can bring equipment and print the stickers at the price fixed by the government. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">During a discussion regarding sticker printing, the department had informed JEMC about the technology. They also had discussion about printing stickers by bringing new technology and purchasing paper for printing that was insufficient. The JEMC officials believe that delayed decision by IRD to allow domestic companies to print the stickers has created confusion on whether to buy the necessary equipment and papers for printing. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“It takes time even if we buy through short method. The government delaying handing over the responsibility of printing to the center shows that the government is not ready to print the stickers in the country,” a senior JEMC official said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Although the department had given letter of intent to the Indonesian company Perum Peruri to print the stickers through a global tender, the government is further embarrassed after they replied that they could not print the stickers as agreed due to corona. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Garsu Pasaulis of Lithuania, UAB, the second company after Perum Peruri, has filed a lawsuit against the department claiming they should get the contract after breaking the agreement with Perum Peruri. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The department has informed that the old stickers in stock are enough for now, but the decision needs to be taken about new printing soon. “We have to get to the conclusion as soon as possible and we will make decision soon,” said kunwar.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-07', 'modified' => '2020-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11924', 'image' => '20200707042111_Excise duty stickers.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-07 16:19:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12176', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Collection of Insurance Premium Increases', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'There has been improvement in collection of insurance premium after the easing of the lockdown. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 7: There has been improvement in collection of insurance premium after the easing of the lockdown. The collection of insurance premium and renewal fees had reduced due to the restrictions in movement which was announced on March 24. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In normal times, life insurance companies collect Rs 6 billion in insurance premium monthly. However, during the lockdown, the collection went down to Rs 2-3 billion. According to data provided by the Insurance Board (IB), Rs 4.74 billion was collected from mid-May to mid-June. Insurance companies estimate that the collection for this month with exceed that amount. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">There is no exact data about insurance premium collection for this month till now. “Though we are yet to calculate the exact number, the collection has quite increased compared to March, April, May and June,” said Shiva Nath Pandey, president of Nepal Insurers Association. He added that Insurance Sector has been seeing satisfactory growth recently. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The months of April, May, June and July are regarded as the most favorable for insurance business growth. This period is also for renewal of insurance policies. Similarly, the collection of premium is more during mid-June to mid-July as it is the last month the fiscal year. “Insurance agents also need to meet their target to get facilities from the companies. So, this impacts the business,” said Pandey, adding, “Also, there was waiver of fines for delay in paying insurance premium for the last three months.” According to the life insurance companies, there are new policy holders as well. However, the new clients are less in numbers compared to normal times. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Manoj Kumar Lal Karna, CEO of Union Life Insurance says that insurance policy renewal growth is not satisfactory.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“There is an improvement in collection, but it is not up to the mark. Around 25 percent insurance policies will not be renewed this year,” said Karna. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the last fiscal year, life insurance premium collection had increased by 46 percent. But this time, the growth rate might not that that high. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the last fiscal year, life insurance companies had collected premium of more than Rs 70 billion. According to Raju Raman Poudyal, executive director of IB said that the premium collection shall increase to Rs 90 billion. According to him, life insurance companies have collected Rs 70 billion till mid-June. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-07', 'modified' => '2020-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11923', 'image' => '20200707041902_Insurance premium.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-07 16:17:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12175', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Covid-19 Impact: NPC to Reassess Goals of 15th Plan ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With the deceleration in the country’s economic growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing to reassess the targets set in the 15th Five Year Plan as the target seem unachievable. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 6: With the deceleration in the country’s economic growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing to reassess the targets set in the 15<sup>th</sup> Five Year Plan as the target seem unachievable. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The government had planned to implement the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan from the current fiscal year. However, in the first year of implementation of the periodic plan, the country has been forced to experience a severe economic shock due to the pandemic. This situation has led NPC to launch a study to reassess the targets. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Dr Puspa Kandel, vice president of NPC, a study is being conducted to review the existing indices considering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown on the country’s economy from March. “Though Nepal has achieved progress in the per capita income (PCI) and human development index (HDI) in the recent years, it will be difficult for the country to increase its PCI and HDI due to the adverse economic scenario,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">As the targets set in areas such as PCI, HDI, poverty alleviation, government expenditure, private and foreign investment are unlikely to be met, NPC is preparing to make new adjustments in the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. . </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“We will soon reach the conclusion by studying which areas have been affected by the pandemic and the how much it could affect the goals of the 15<sup>th</sup> plan,” said Kandel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to NPC, the impact of pandemic will be seen in the first and second year of implementation of the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. Kandel says that there is a need to improve the trend and priorities in government expenditure to cope with the current crisis. The commission had estimated that this year the country would have reached the target set for the list of developing nations if the Covid-19 crisis had not occurred. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan, the government had aimed to reduce poverty below 10 percent and achieve an average growth rate of 9.6 percent in the next five years. According to NPC officials, the target to reduce unemployment rate from 11.4 percent to 4 percent is unlikely to be met under current circumstances. Other objectives including increasing life expectancy from 69.7 to 72 years, literacy rate to 90 percent and PCI to USD 1,595 will not be met, according to NPC officials. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Economist Keshav Acharya said that the ambitious target of economic growth will not be achieved, and government does not have the capacity to face the current crisis. “The 15<sup>th</sup> Plan has targeted to achieve around 10% economic growth on average yearly. But the big question is how will such an ambitious objective will be met?” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Former vice president of NPC, Jagadish Chandra Pokharel thinks that availing foreign loans will challenging due to the global economic recession. He believes that the country might face economic crisis if the government’s revenue shrinks but its social responsibility increases. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Even though the internal revenue is affected, the current expenditure has not decreased. The pandemic has increased expenditure towards social responsibility, creating imbalance in expenditure system which will exacerbate economic problems in the country,” Pokharel said. According to his analysis, the decline in remittances would further aggravate the economic crisis. “As the number of Nepalis returning from abroad is less now, remittance inflow has not decreased now. The inflow of remittance will decline significantly after two to four months,” he warned.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-06', 'modified' => '2020-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11922', 'image' => '20200706034420_NPC 15th Plan.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-06 15:42:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Embossed Number Plates Installation to Start from mid-July', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Seven months after the Supreme Court cleared way for the government to distribute embossed number plates, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has started process for installation of the number plates on vehicles. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">June 6: Seven months after the Supreme Court cleared way for the government to distribute embossed number plates, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has started process for installation of the number plates on vehicles. DoTM has opened online application for the purpose and the process to install the number plates will start from July 16. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">DoTM in early 2017 had awarded the Rs 4.78 billion contract to a Bangladeshi company Decatur Tiger IT to supply and install the embossed number plates on vehicles. The installation, which started in the same year was halted due to language related problems. Advocate Bharat Kumar Basnet and Rajan Burlakoti filed a petition saying that the plates were imprinted with English language which violated the constitutional provision that mandates the use of Devanagari script in any government work. Chief justice Gopal Parajuli issued an interim order to halt the installation of embossed number plates in February 2018. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In November 2019, a bench comprising Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and five members dismissed the writ and opened way for fixing the embossed number plate. Though DoTM was preparing to install the number plates from February. However, the process got halted due to the lockdown. According to Tirtha Raj Khanal, director of DoTM, has resumed the process with the easing of the lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">DoTM had signed a contract with Decatur Tiger to install embossed number plates on 2.5 million vehicles in five years. As the process got halted due to the interim order, only 4,600 vehicles were installed with the embossed number plates. Khanal said that the company, which has been producing the number plates even after the interim order of the Supreme Court, has already produced 2,00,000 number plates. “The plates are ready. Now, we will move ahead with the installation process,” said Khanal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to DoTM, the number plates vehicles registered in the Bagmati Province will get the new number plates in the first phase. DoTM has allocated four locations at Transport Management Office, Gurjudhara, Vehicle Inspection Centre, Teku, Transport Office, Ekantakuna and Department of Transport Management, Minbhawan for the purpose. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-06', 'modified' => '2020-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11921', 'image' => '20200706034212_embossed num plates.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-06 15:38:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12173', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Indifference Puts Rs 10 billion Investment in Transport Sector at Risk', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The country’s transportation sector has been mired in various troubles due to the government’s indifference to formulate concrete work procedures to resume the public transport. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 5: The country’s transportation sector has been mired in various troubles due to the government’s indifference to formulate concrete work procedures to resume the public transport. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Though, the government has permitted private vehicles to ply on roads, it is yet to allow operation of public vehicles. Transport entrepreneurs say that due to prolonged lockdown, they have not been able to pay installment of bank loans. Similarly, adding to the mounting losses of transport entrepreneurs is damages to vehicles due to non-operation for long time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE), there are around 200,000 vehicles across in the public transportation sector currently with total investment of around Rs 10 billion employing more than 50,00,000 people. According to Saroj Sitaula, general secretary of FNNTE, the government must be serious about plights faced by transport entrepreneurs, workers and the general public. “The government needs to come up with work procedures as soon as possible to allow operation of public transport by implementing necessary health safety measures,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Transport company operators argue that the current situation cannot go forever as damages to vehicles due to keeping idle for long has added to their expenses. Currently, 72 buses of Sajha Yatayat have been parked at the garage. Two buses are now operating at the airport. According to Bhusan Tuladhar, executive director of Sajha Yatayat, the buses need to be repaired. “It is obvious for vehicles to get damaged because of non-operation for long,” he said, “However, we are yet to study about the damages.” Citing examples of other countries where public transportation has resumed after the easing of the lockdown, Tuladhar mentioned that is not difficult to operate public buses by maintaining health safety measures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Mayur Yatayat has also parked its 44 buses. “The government should provide relief to the transport sector. It should have provided us with concessions on interest on loans and extension of loan repayment schedul. But we cannot expect relief measures at the moment as the people in the politics are busy in power struggle,” expressed Mohan Shrestha, chairman of Mayur Yatayat. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Though transport entrepreneur have talked to ministers and other high officials for multiple times over the last few weeks, the government has not decided on the module of operation of public vehicles. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to FNNTE General Secretary Sitaula, the government has not started working anything regarding the resumption of public transport though the entrepreneurs provided their suggestions in written and verbal forms. “We are in official and unofficial discussions with vehicle owners and transport sector workers. Now we are preparing to put pressure on the government for resumption of public transport,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-05', 'modified' => '2020-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11920', 'image' => '20200705035220_public transport.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-05 15:50:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ) ) $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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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has announced extension of loan repayment deadline for up to a year for businesses hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Presenting the Monetary Policy for fiscal year 2020/21, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said that the central bank has prioritised measures aimed at the reviving the pandemic economic affected sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Monetary Policy for FY2020/21 has received warm welcome from the business sector. Stakeholders have said that the central bank has addressed demands of business associations of various sectors and has incorporated their suggestions in the policy. However, economists and bankers have said that the targets in the monetary policy are challenging to achieve. According to Ganesh Raj Pokharel, CEO of Citizens Bank International, the central bank has taken measures with a view to help both bankers and businesspersons survive during the current crisis. Meanwhile, banking expert AR Bhattarai doubts on the bank’s target to keep inflation rate within the 7 percent range. Bhattarai also views the lending expansion target of 20 percent in the current fiscal year 2020/21 in the monetary policy as challenging. “The target set for the current year is ambitious because last year the lending expansion in the private sector was 10 percent,” said Bhattarai, adding, “Other targets in the monetary policy can be achieved because directive work procedure which comes after the policy further manages and implement it.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><strong><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Extension of Loan Repayment Deadline</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Businesses in tourism, manufacturing, education, communications, healthcare, education and entertainment are entitled to receive the loan restructuring and rescheduling facilities. NRB has put businesses in categories of low, medium and highly affected for repayment of loans. The deadline for repayment of interest and principal amount for such businesses has been extended from 6 months to a year. As per the arrangements, highly affected businesses can repay their loans by mid-July 2021 while the deadline has been extended to mid-April 2021 for medium affected and mid-January 2021 for low affected businesses. Likewise, the repayment deadline can be extended to more than a year for those businesses needing reestablishment in sectors like tourism. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Besides, NRB has also announced refinancing facility, extension of grace period for infrastructure projects and targeted lending for productive sectors at lower interest rates to aid the process of recovery. Similarly, NRB has prioritised lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><strong><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Lending Capacity of Banks in Doubt</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NRB has increased the credit-to-core capital-plus-deposit (CCD) ratioto 85 percent from 80 percent. According to Bhattarai, the arrangement will add an average of Rs 120 billion additional liquidity in the banking system. Nevertheless, Bhuvan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) argues that the existing problems in expansion of loans cannot only be resolved by increasing CDD ratio. “The situation of liquidity will ease to some extent, but it won’t increase the banks’ ability to expand loans. The 20 percent net liquid asset should also need to be addressed. The lending capacity of banks will increase only if both issues are addressed,” he opined. Dahal viewed the restructuring and rescheduling of loans to support the pandemic-stricken business sectors as a positive step to face the challenges created by the Covid-19 crisis. “However, the measures will impact income of banks,” he mentioned. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-19', 'modified' => '2020-07-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11934', 'image' => '20200719041756_Monetary Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-19 16:16:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12186', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pandemic Hits Nepal’s Foreign Trade Hard ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal’s foreign trade has been severely affected by the four months long lockdown which the government imposed on March 24 to control the transmission of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: Nepal’s foreign trade has been severely affected by the four months long lockdown which the government imposed on March 24 to control the transmission of coronavirus. The train traffic at the Birgunj Dry port where containers from overseas and cargoes from different parts of India arrive, has decreased dramatically. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The movement decreased after containers stopped arriving at Kolkata and Visakhapatnam ports in India. As of July 16, only 17 containers, two sacks and five racks of iron have entered the port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The statistics of Himalayan Terminal shows that in average, 70 racks of cargo have entered in the last three months. On the annual train traffic, this number is 95. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Normally, three to four trains come to the port in a day but now hardly a train arrives,” said Bishnukant Chaudhary, CEO of Himalayan Terminal, which operates the Birgunj dry port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Animesh Kumar, a senior official at the Himalayan Terminal, cargo arrivals have dropped further this week. "Not a single rack is likely to arrive on Thursday," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Chaudhary said that while there used to be 25 to 30 racks on the way from Kolkata and Visakhapatnam to Birgunj, it has now dropped to two to four. The terminal said that only two containers and racks of iron from Visakhapatnam were seen on the road on Thursday. There is no pressure of containers coming to Nepal even in this port. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Laxmi Khadka, chief of the Kolkata based Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company said that not even 25/30 containers could reach the Kolkata port now which used to receive around 200 containers daily. According to the port management, not a single rack has reached Kolkata in three days. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Entrepreneurs said that the goods of letter of credit (LC) opened before the lockdown have arrived and since the number of LCs has decreased from then, its impact has seen on import. The lockdown was imposed from March 24. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Guru Poudel, director of the Foreign Exchange Management Department of Nepal Rastra Bank, said that very few LCs have been opened for about a month since then. According to him, although the process of opening LC has improved after March, the situation has not become normal. As the validity period of LC is 120 to 150 days, the importer says that the goods of LC before the lockdown have already arrived. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Ashok Kumar Temani, chairman of the Transport and Transit Committee and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) claimed that the import was reduced as the government was only trying to collect taxes from traders and not facilitating business. “Trade has become uncomfortable due to Corona. Credits from the market have not been raised. But the government is not concerned in anything other than collecting taxes and raising revenue,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Although foreign trade has declined, Temani says it will have a cyclical effect on the economy. Importer Suresh Rungta has complained that entrepreneurs are discouraged due to government policy. “The cost of most goods and services has increased due to corona. However, the government is inflexible about the old values and evaluation. Such an impractical policy would further weaken the business,” Rungta told New Business Age. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Both Birgunj custom offices fail to meet revenue targets</span></strong> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Birgunj (ICP) and dry port customs at the main customs checkpoint failed to meet the revenue target in the last fiscal year. Out of the target of Rs 188 billion set for Birgunj customs, only Rs 126 billion has been collected. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Chief Customs Administrator Dhundi Prasad Niraula said that this amount is only 67% of the target. Birgunj customs had raised 72 percent of the target in FY2075/76. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Similarly, the dry port customs office has collected revenue of Rs 36.19 billion. According to customs Chief Umesh Shrestha, the collected revenue is 86 percent of the annual target. A target of Rs 41.88 billion was given to the dry port customs in the last fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Customs officials say the target could not be met as imports were affected by the corona outbreak and lockdown in the last four months of the year. They say the government's control over imports of luxury goods and the decline in foreign trade have had an impact on overall revenue collection. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11933', 'image' => '20200717032225_vigaz train nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12185', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs Demand Resumption of Flight Operations', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Tourism entrepreneurs have warned to start protest if the government does not resume domestic flight operations from August 1.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: Tourism entrepreneurs have warned to start protest if the government does not resume domestic flight operations from August 1. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Organising a joint press conference on Thursday, 35 tourism sector related organisations including Airlines Operators’ Association of Nepal (AAON), Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), Nepal Association of Travel and Tour Operators (NATTO), Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), said that the halt in flights has resulted in zero business for tourism enterprises for the last four months and that the government needs to reopen the domestic airspace ensuring proper health safety measures. Likewise, they also demanded resumption of international flights operation and opening of border checkpoints from August 15.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Tourism entrepreneurs said that that air connectivity is directly linked with overall tourism activities and Nepalis are compelled to pay high air fares for international flights in the absence of regular flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to them,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> liabilities of the entrepreneurs have crossed negative levels putting the one million employment and investment of billions of rupees is in jeopardy.</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Nepal has been hit by Covid-19 pandemic while the tourism sector, in particular, is bearing an unprecedented loss due to closure of hotels, resorts, homestays, air, and public and tourist transport.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Speaking on the occasion, AAON President Captain Rameshore Thapa asked that the government needs to reopen the airspace by following the steps taken by other countries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Binayak Shah, senior vice president of HAN said that the government has not paid attention to attempts made by entrepreneurs to reopen businesses and waiting for the Covid-19 pandemic to end has crippled the tourism sector badly. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NATTA President Achyut Guragain warned that there is no alternative left for entrepreneurs other than to start phase-wise protests if the government declined to address their demands. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11932', 'image' => '20200717031711_airspace nepal.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:14:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12184', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bankers Fear Increase in Bad Loans ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With the repayment of bank loans affected by the Covid-19 induced crisis, fears are rising among bankers that the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks if the debtors do not repay their loans soon. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: With the repayment of bank loans affected by the Covid-19 induced crisis, fears are rising among bankers that the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks if the debtors do not repay their loans soon. The calls made by the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Maha Prasad Adhikari to debtors, who are able to pay their loans, to clear interest and principal amount, have been ignored by the debtors increasing the risk of surge of NPLs, bankers say. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The banks had announced to provide concession on the loans during the time of pandemic. NRB had already decided to give 10 percent concession to those who pay their interest within June 16. But, NPLs of banks in FY2020/21 is likely to increase. Bankers say that the double standard of government and the regulatory body to act well with both banks and the debtors is exacerbating the problems in the banking sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Company Secretary of Agricultural Development Bank, Himlal Poudel says that it is irrelevant to pressurize debtors who have invested in sectors like tourism and transportation which are badly affected by the pandemic. Even after requesting to those who can pay, the repayment of loans is not satisfactory. He further says that Agricultural Development Bank has collected only Rs 500 million from March to June, out of the targeted amount Rs 1.25 billion. “We have provided additional reliefs to our borrowers besides the concessions announced by NRB. We have provided 10 to 60 percent concession in interest rate to those who have borrowed money from us for more than two years, but the recovery of loans hasn’t been as expected, said Poudel.” According to him, NPL of Agricultural Development Bank in March was 3.29 which will increase significantly due to the non-recovery of loans. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NIC Asia bank announced an attractive concession scheme to encourage the borrowers to repay their loans. The bank said that if the debtors pay the entire installment/interest amount by Mid-June, they will receive an additional 10 percent discount in the interest amount and a 100 percent waiver of the penalty interest amount. However, the loan recovery has not been as expected, according to a source at NIC Asia Bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">President of the Nepal Bankers' Association Bhuvan Kumar Dahal said that it is difficult to put pressure on debtors who are already under stress due to the economic slowdown. Therefore, he says, there is a need to take as much as banks can recover the loans by convincing the borrowers. “The current situation for banks is that very few debtors will repay their loans leading to the increase of NPLs of banks,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Dahal, NRB has said that there is no need to calculate NPL of those who have not paid till mid-July. However, the decision has not been made. Even if the NPL is not shown, the bank's interest income is affected. He said that non-recovery of loans will also impact distribution of cash dividends to bank shareholders. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">A banker, under the condition of anonymity, said that the governor had given a verbal assurance that bad loans would not be counted during this period, but as there is no policy as such. The existing rules mandate banks to show their NPLs in the financial statements which will be made public in mid-July. Another banker claims that the governor's assurance that the monetary policy will increase the deadline to those who are unable to pay, restructure, reschedule and other facilities depending on the condition of loans, has led the businessmen not to clear their debts. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11931', 'image' => '20200717031443_NPLs.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:13:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'OAG Report Shows Worsening of Fiscal Discipline', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'At a time when the government has claimed to become frugal in public expenses, the latest annual report published by the Office of Auditor General (OAG) has shown worsening of fiscal discipline. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 17: At a time when the government has claimed to become frugal in public expenses, the latest annual report published by the Office of Auditor General (OAG) has shown worsening of fiscal discipline. According to the 57<sup>th</sup> OAG Report released on Wednesday, the arrears of the government totaled Rs 418 billion in FY2019/20, an increase of 11 percent compared to the previous fiscal year. OAG audited financial documents of 5,619 government agencies and associated institutions in central, provincial and local levels. The total amount audited was Rs 5,171.64 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to the report, of the total arrears amount of Rs 132 billion,10 percent belong to government ministries with the highest amount (Rs 19.06 billion) belonging to the Ministry of Finance. Similarly, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation has Rs 14 billion, Ministry of Defense has Rs 9 billion, Ministry of Water Supply has Rs 4.28 billion and Prime Minister’s Office has Rs 4 billion in arrears. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to OAG, arrears of agencies under the federal government stood at 4.05 percent while it is 4.33 percent for agencies under provincial governments and 5.15 percent for local levels. Of the total arrears, expenses with no submitted documents are the highest with Rs 44.64 billion while expenditures suspected with irregularities have totaled Rs 17.30 billion. Likewise, amounts in mobilization advance and letter of credits (LCs) stood at Rs 21.40 billion and Rs 10.62 billion, respectively. Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma said that there has been slight improvement in arrears. According to him, highest arrears have been seen in areas such as public procurement and project management. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-17', 'modified' => '2020-07-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11930', 'image' => '20200717031305_arrears.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-17 15:00:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12182', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rejection of Munich International Airport’s Proposal to Operate GBIA Recommended', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'A committee formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has recommended rejecting the proposal of Munich International Airport of Germany to operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which is under construction at Bhairahawa.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 10: A committee formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has recommended rejecting the proposal of Munich International Airport of Germany to operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which is under construction at Bhairahawa. According to ministry officials, the recommendation was presented due to some legal complications in the proposal presented by Munich. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The cabinet meeting held on May 30, 2019 had decided to operate the Gautam Buddha International Airport on the basis of government-to-government (G2G) agreement instead of open competition. After the decision, Munich Airport had sent a formal proposal to MoCTCA and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on June 2019<strong>.</strong> Munich had offered to give it the responsibility to operate the airport for 50 years. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at MoCTCA said that although Munich’s offer seemed technically appropriate, it is recommended to cancel the proposal as it had legal complications and ambiguity. Lamichhane is the coordinator of the committee formed by the ministry to hand over responsibility for the operation of the airport. Representatives of NAC, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are in the committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to Lamichhane, the committee had assessed the proposal and recommended the government to reject it a few days ago. “Our recommendation is based on some legal complications in the Munich’s proposal. Now further decision will be taken by the government,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to him, the government had called for proposal through G2G, but only one proposal was received. Due to some provision in Public Procurement Act, the proposal cannot be accepted at the moment. “Munich’s proposal is rejected because it is important to know whether any proposal is legally correct or not before accepting,” he mentioned. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The government had preparations to complete the construction work by December 2019, and start the operation from March 2020. However, completion of the construction of the project has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">As per the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai, preparations are being made to complete the work by the end of 2020 and start flights from March 2021. “The pandemic has definitely pushed us back. However, we will complete the construction work by 2020 end and start operation of flights by March 2021,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">As there were no proposals from other countries, there was higher possibility that the German company would have been awarded the contract. But, after their proposal is rejected, there is confusion as to how to proceed after the airport’s construction is completed. Lamichhane said that the government could operate the airport from its own resources and manpower even if no other proposals are received at the moment. “The global marketing and expansion would have been easier with Munich. However, we must prepare for operation ourselves as that possibility has been reduced at the moment due to corona,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Construction period extended due to Corona </span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group, a Chinese government-owned company, was assigned to complete the construction of the airport by December 2017. But due to various reasons, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">the construction deadline was extended for multiple times. This has been again extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to ministry officials, 91 percent of the works have been completed and the construction of a runway and link taxiway connecting the parking bay has been finished during the lockdown period. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Spokesperson of the ministry, Rudra Singh Tamang said that the work of connecting the runway lights has reached the final stage. Similarly, work of installing air conditioning in the terminal building has been started during the shutdown and decoration work is underway. Currently, 275 workers including 29 Chinese have been mobilised for the construction of the airport. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-10', 'modified' => '2020-07-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11929', 'image' => '20200710024104_GBIA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-10 14:39:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12181', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lack of Data Makes Tourism Sector Recovery Difficult', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector the hardest in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 9: The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector the hardest in Nepal. The entire star and non-star hotels across the country are closed, flights are suspended, and travel agencies have become workless in a matter of four months. But what is the actual damage to the sector due to the global health crisis? This is a baffling question because the government doesn’t have credible data. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Three days ago, tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai said that the tourism sector ha incurred a monthly loss of Rs 10 billion during the lockdown period. Speaking at a press conference he estimated that by mid-July the overall loss to the tourism sector would be Rs 41 billion. However, this is a random assessment because the ministry does not have comprehensive data on the amount of damage in different areas of tourism. The government also does not have any official data on how many people lost their jobs from the tourism sector due to Covid-19 pandemic, and how much loan do the tourism entrepreneurs have. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">On the basis of a study conducted by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the ministry estimated the loss and said at the press conference. Bhattarai claims that the details of the loss in the tourism sector have been sent to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning Commission. A committee was formed by NTB and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to study the loss in tourism and aviation sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">However, the study of the Board does not find anything other than a general study of investment and employment in the tourism sector. The report submitted by the board to the MoF does not provide data on how much the sector has lost due to the corona and lockdown. According to a study conducted by the board, more than Rs 1 trillion has been invested in Nepal's tourism sector (including the aviation sector). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Ministry spokesperson Rudra Singh Tamang said that the Ministry of Tourism has estimated the amount of damage as per the details sent by the board and further study is being done by the National Planning Commission. According to private organizations affiliated with tourism, the damage in the tourism sector is much more than the government's claim. Based on the data provided by the private sector, the tourism sector has suffered much more than the government's estimate. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Binayak Shah, senior vice-president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), argues that due to lack of official data from the state and proper coordination with the private sector, there are no reliable figures on the loss. "We have official statistics about organisations affiliated with us. In the three months of the lockdown, the hotel industry has lost more than Rs 2.5 billion in a month. Even after calculating that, we have to bear a loss of more than Rs 10 billion,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Manoj Karki, general secretary of the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal, the domestic aviation has lost between Rs 7-10 billion in the last three months. "Combining the international flights and government flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation, the loss is likely to increase," states Karki. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Similarly, according to Khum Bahadur subedi, president of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, the trekking and mountaineering sector has lost more than Rs 15 billion. The Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (REBAN) has also estimated that 3,500 restaurants in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan have suffered losses of Rs 9-10 billion during the period. President of REBAN Araniko Rajbhandari said the estimated loss would be much higher if other restaurants across the country that are not connected with the organisation. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-09', 'modified' => '2020-07-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11928', 'image' => '20200709035505_tourism sector crisis Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-09 15:51:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12180', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FNCCI Demands Extension of Loan Re-payment Deadline', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'After banks and financial institutions (BFIs) began to mount pressure on industrialists and business persons to repay the loans with the ending of the current fiscal year nearing, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has demanded to provide extension of principal and interest payment deadline for an indefinite period. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">June 9: After banks and financial institutions (BFIs) began to mount pressure on industrialists and business persons to repay the loans with the ending of the current fiscal year nearing, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has demanded to provide extension of principal and interest payment deadline for an indefinite period. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Issuing a press statement, FNCCI requested Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to include this provision in the Monetary Policy for the upcoming fiscal year. The apex body of the Nepali private sector has also asked NRB to bring monetary policy before July 15. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">FNCCI has argued that the deadline for loan repayment needs to be extended until the full revival of the country’s economy also demanding the central bank to restructure and reschedule the lending model. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">FNCCI has claimed that BFIs have been mounting pressure on the businesses to pay the principle and interest before July 15. “But businesses are unable to repay the loan due to the crisis,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The situation is such that many business persons are on the verge of exiting the business sector and it is responsibility of the government to save the businesses at this time of crisis, according to FNCCI. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">NRB had extended the loan repayment of principle and interest amount during the lockdown period till July 15. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The lockdown enforced from March 24 by the government to stop the coronavirus transmission has led to the closure of almost all industries across the country. Even after the easing of the lockdown since mid-June, industries have been working on 40 percent of their capacity due to the lack of workers and inadequate supply of raw materials due to disturbances created by the raging Covid-19 cases in neighbouring India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> Pashupati Murarka, past president of FNCCI said that NRB has to bring monetary policy before July 15 and that the policy must address the concerns of industrialists and business persons. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Though the lockdown has eased, industries haven’t opened completely,” added Murarka “A few big industries may be able pay principle and interest of bank loans, but most cannot at this moment.” </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">While launching the monetary policy, NRB should be equally sensible towards the challenges of BFI’s and announce relief accordingly, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-09', 'modified' => '2020-07-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11927', 'image' => '20200709034938_FNCCI.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-09 15:48:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DPR of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project to be Ready by mid-October', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, which will have investment from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), will be ready by mid-October. The completion of DPR of the peaking-run-of-the-river (PROR) hydropower project was initially scheduled for February.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">June 8: The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, which will have investment from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), will be ready by mid-October. The completion of DPR of the peaking-run-of-the-river (PROR) hydropower project was initially scheduled for February. However, due to need of additional study and disturbance created by Covid-19 pandemic, the deadline for finalising DPR had been postponed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Currently, Nepal Engineering Company under the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is preparing the DPR of the project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">It is for the first time EPF has decided to construct a hydropower project on its own. EPF has been allocating some amount from bonuses of its depositors for the development of the 442MW project. Betan Karnali Hydropower Project has been planned to be funded by majority share of EPF depositors. For the purpose, EPF has been working by establishing the Betan Karnali Sanchayakarta Hydropower Company Limited (BKSHCL). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">“Further study was needed as this is a big project. So, the DPR deadline was extended,” said Deepak Rauniyar, managing director of BKSHCL. “It got delayed because of the Covid-19 crisis, but now we have targeted to finalise the DPR by mid-October.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The company received government’s approval for the construction of the project on May 21, 2017. Initially, Betan Karnali Hydropower Project’s capacity was reported at 688MW. Now works are ongoing to prepare its DPR under the reduced capacity of 442MW. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">The project, which will cover parts of Achham and Surkhet districts of the Karnali Province, will have investment totaling Rs 76 billion; 70 percent of the investment or Rs 48 billion will be managed from loans while the rest 30 percent or Rs 28 billion will be managed from equity of raised under the leadership of EPF. Of the equity amount, 40 percent will be depositors’ money, 15 percent from EPF, 10 percent from NEA and 10 percent from Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited. The remaining 25 percent equity will be raised from the general public. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF has been allocating 50 percent of depositors’ bonus for the generation of capital for the project for the last three years. The amount has reached more than Rs 4 billion. According to EPF officials, Rs 8.40 billion of depositors’ money will be invested in the project and it will take three more years to collect all the investment required for the construction of the project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF has prioritised domestic banks for loan investment. The fund plans to borrow a total of Rs 48 billion for the project out of which Rs 30-35 billon will be raised from Nepal Infrastructure Bank. The rest of the amount will be raised from capital market and international banks. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">EPF Administrator Tulsi Prasad Gautam said that they will also borrow from international banks. “We are looking forward to raise loan investment from local and international banks. If this doesn’t go well, we will issue bonds,” he inmformed. “The size and capital of Nepali bank is increasing. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">So, we believe that the loans can be raised domestically.” According to Gautam, it will take one and a half to two years for the completion of the financial closure of the project.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-08', 'modified' => '2020-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11926', 'image' => '20200708040941_Betan Karnali Hydropower Project.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-08 16:08:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Rating of Nepal within 6 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Fitch Ratings, which has been assigned for sovereign credit rating of Nepal, has prepared an action plan for conducting credit rating within six months of the next fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 8: Fitch Ratings, which has been assigned for sovereign credit rating of Nepal, has prepared an action plan for conducting credit rating within six months of the next fiscal year. The Ratings Oversight Committee, formed under the coordination of revenue secretary of Ministry of Finance (MoF) had given the task of Nepal’s credit rating to the US-based company three months ago after conducting discussions and studies. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to MoF Spokesperson Uttar Kumar Chhetri, Fitch Ratings, which is considered as one of the finest international agencies in sovereign rating, was given the responsibility of Nepal’s credit rating in Mid-December 2019. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Moody’s, Fitch and Standard and Poor’s are the three major global credit rating agencies. “Among them, we selected Fitch for the purpose of conducing Nepal’s ratings. Before selecting the company, we held discussion with the officials and representatives of government agencies concerned,” said Chintamani Shiwakoti, deputy governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, who is also a member of the committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">However, Fitch has complained about the delay in collection of data required for ratings due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In his budget speech for FY2020/21, Finance Minister Dr Yuva Raj Khatiwada had said that the credit rating of Nepal would be completed within the next six months. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Stakeholders have been urging for sovereign rating saying that the absence of the rating has hugely impacted foreign direct investment (FDI) prospects of Nepal. Nevertheless, about half a dozen banks and financial institutions have borrowed billions of rupees in loans from foreign financial institutions over the last few years. After NRB opened the way for Nepali banks to get loans from foreign financial institutions, NMB Bank has borrowed highest foreign loans. “Foreign financial institutions have trusted us even when the country does not have a credit rating. Once the rating is done, the confidence of the foreign institutions will increase,” mentioned Sunil KC, CEO of NMB bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Statistics related to economic activities in the country, ability to repay loans, trade with other countries and other various aspects are assessed while conducting sovereign rating. According to officials at Credit Rating Oversight Committee, the rating will form a basis for easy access to funds in the international market and sales of bonds. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Experts say that the sovereign rating helps to depict the real economic and financial situation of Nepal internationally. Bhishma Raj Dhungana, Chairman of Securities Board of Nepal says that the rating will determine the level of risks in the country. “Foreigners decide whether or not to invest here based on the ratings. The better the rating, the more could be the investments,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-08', 'modified' => '2020-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11925', 'image' => '20200708012357_Nepal Credit Rating.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-08 13:22:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Excise Duty Sticker Printing Still in Dilemma ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The printing of excise duty stickers has stuck in a dilemma even though the stock of the stickers is said to be running out. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 7: The printing of excise duty stickers has stuck in a dilemma even though the stock of the stickers is said to be running out. The government was preparing to print stickers in the country after the Indonesian security printer Perusahaan Umum Percetakan Uang Republik Indonesia (Perum Peruri), which was assigned with the task of printing excise duty stickers through a global tender, withdrew from the printing process. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) had also studied about handing over the responsibility of sticker printing to the Department of Printing and Janak Educational Material Center (JEMC) for the time being. Director general of the department, Binod Bahadur Kunwar informs that although a study has been conducted regarding the capabilities of these two government companies, the decision about giving responsibility of printing excise sticker has not been made yet. “The quality of stickers printed in the country may not match that of foreign security press. But as an alternative, we had conducted a study of these two companies,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The government has been printing more than 40 types of stickers that are required in different bodies of Ministry of Finance (MoF) abroad through global tender. He further said that after the printing of excise duty stickers became complicated, homework on whether to give the responsibility of printing in abroad or in the country is still being done. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">As there would be extreme shortage of the stickers when the global tender is called, the IRD is in pressure to print the stickers in the country. However, according to a source of MoF, there is no possibility of handing over the responsibility of printing, because of weak capacity of the companies in Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“In the past, the country had to bear huge loss due to the leakage of stickers. Even if we are printing them in the country, it would have taken time as we have to do homework regarding the security,” a senior finance official said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Officials at JEMC say that it is inappropriate to distrust the organisation run by the Ministry of Finance. Mahesh Prasad Timilsina, general manager of JEMC said that they can bring equipment and print the stickers at the price fixed by the government. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">During a discussion regarding sticker printing, the department had informed JEMC about the technology. They also had discussion about printing stickers by bringing new technology and purchasing paper for printing that was insufficient. The JEMC officials believe that delayed decision by IRD to allow domestic companies to print the stickers has created confusion on whether to buy the necessary equipment and papers for printing. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“It takes time even if we buy through short method. The government delaying handing over the responsibility of printing to the center shows that the government is not ready to print the stickers in the country,” a senior JEMC official said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Although the department had given letter of intent to the Indonesian company Perum Peruri to print the stickers through a global tender, the government is further embarrassed after they replied that they could not print the stickers as agreed due to corona. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Garsu Pasaulis of Lithuania, UAB, the second company after Perum Peruri, has filed a lawsuit against the department claiming they should get the contract after breaking the agreement with Perum Peruri. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The department has informed that the old stickers in stock are enough for now, but the decision needs to be taken about new printing soon. “We have to get to the conclusion as soon as possible and we will make decision soon,” said kunwar.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-07', 'modified' => '2020-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11924', 'image' => '20200707042111_Excise duty stickers.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-07 16:19:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12176', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Collection of Insurance Premium Increases', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'There has been improvement in collection of insurance premium after the easing of the lockdown. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 7: There has been improvement in collection of insurance premium after the easing of the lockdown. The collection of insurance premium and renewal fees had reduced due to the restrictions in movement which was announced on March 24. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In normal times, life insurance companies collect Rs 6 billion in insurance premium monthly. However, during the lockdown, the collection went down to Rs 2-3 billion. According to data provided by the Insurance Board (IB), Rs 4.74 billion was collected from mid-May to mid-June. Insurance companies estimate that the collection for this month with exceed that amount. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">There is no exact data about insurance premium collection for this month till now. “Though we are yet to calculate the exact number, the collection has quite increased compared to March, April, May and June,” said Shiva Nath Pandey, president of Nepal Insurers Association. He added that Insurance Sector has been seeing satisfactory growth recently. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The months of April, May, June and July are regarded as the most favorable for insurance business growth. This period is also for renewal of insurance policies. Similarly, the collection of premium is more during mid-June to mid-July as it is the last month the fiscal year. “Insurance agents also need to meet their target to get facilities from the companies. So, this impacts the business,” said Pandey, adding, “Also, there was waiver of fines for delay in paying insurance premium for the last three months.” According to the life insurance companies, there are new policy holders as well. However, the new clients are less in numbers compared to normal times. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Manoj Kumar Lal Karna, CEO of Union Life Insurance says that insurance policy renewal growth is not satisfactory.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“There is an improvement in collection, but it is not up to the mark. Around 25 percent insurance policies will not be renewed this year,” said Karna. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the last fiscal year, life insurance premium collection had increased by 46 percent. But this time, the growth rate might not that that high. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the last fiscal year, life insurance companies had collected premium of more than Rs 70 billion. According to Raju Raman Poudyal, executive director of IB said that the premium collection shall increase to Rs 90 billion. According to him, life insurance companies have collected Rs 70 billion till mid-June. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-07', 'modified' => '2020-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11923', 'image' => '20200707041902_Insurance premium.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-07 16:17:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12175', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Covid-19 Impact: NPC to Reassess Goals of 15th Plan ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With the deceleration in the country’s economic growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing to reassess the targets set in the 15th Five Year Plan as the target seem unachievable. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">July 6: With the deceleration in the country’s economic growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing to reassess the targets set in the 15<sup>th</sup> Five Year Plan as the target seem unachievable. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The government had planned to implement the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan from the current fiscal year. However, in the first year of implementation of the periodic plan, the country has been forced to experience a severe economic shock due to the pandemic. This situation has led NPC to launch a study to reassess the targets. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to Dr Puspa Kandel, vice president of NPC, a study is being conducted to review the existing indices considering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown on the country’s economy from March. “Though Nepal has achieved progress in the per capita income (PCI) and human development index (HDI) in the recent years, it will be difficult for the country to increase its PCI and HDI due to the adverse economic scenario,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">As the targets set in areas such as PCI, HDI, poverty alleviation, government expenditure, private and foreign investment are unlikely to be met, NPC is preparing to make new adjustments in the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. . </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“We will soon reach the conclusion by studying which areas have been affected by the pandemic and the how much it could affect the goals of the 15<sup>th</sup> plan,” said Kandel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to NPC, the impact of pandemic will be seen in the first and second year of implementation of the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. Kandel says that there is a need to improve the trend and priorities in government expenditure to cope with the current crisis. The commission had estimated that this year the country would have reached the target set for the list of developing nations if the Covid-19 crisis had not occurred. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan, the government had aimed to reduce poverty below 10 percent and achieve an average growth rate of 9.6 percent in the next five years. According to NPC officials, the target to reduce unemployment rate from 11.4 percent to 4 percent is unlikely to be met under current circumstances. Other objectives including increasing life expectancy from 69.7 to 72 years, literacy rate to 90 percent and PCI to USD 1,595 will not be met, according to NPC officials. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Economist Keshav Acharya said that the ambitious target of economic growth will not be achieved, and government does not have the capacity to face the current crisis. “The 15<sup>th</sup> Plan has targeted to achieve around 10% economic growth on average yearly. But the big question is how will such an ambitious objective will be met?” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Former vice president of NPC, Jagadish Chandra Pokharel thinks that availing foreign loans will challenging due to the global economic recession. He believes that the country might face economic crisis if the government’s revenue shrinks but its social responsibility increases. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Even though the internal revenue is affected, the current expenditure has not decreased. The pandemic has increased expenditure towards social responsibility, creating imbalance in expenditure system which will exacerbate economic problems in the country,” Pokharel said. According to his analysis, the decline in remittances would further aggravate the economic crisis. “As the number of Nepalis returning from abroad is less now, remittance inflow has not decreased now. The inflow of remittance will decline significantly after two to four months,” he warned.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-06', 'modified' => '2020-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11922', 'image' => '20200706034420_NPC 15th Plan.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-06 15:42:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Embossed Number Plates Installation to Start from mid-July', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Seven months after the Supreme Court cleared way for the government to distribute embossed number plates, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has started process for installation of the number plates on vehicles. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">June 6: Seven months after the Supreme Court cleared way for the government to distribute embossed number plates, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has started process for installation of the number plates on vehicles. DoTM has opened online application for the purpose and the process to install the number plates will start from July 16. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">DoTM in early 2017 had awarded the Rs 4.78 billion contract to a Bangladeshi company Decatur Tiger IT to supply and install the embossed number plates on vehicles. The installation, which started in the same year was halted due to language related problems. Advocate Bharat Kumar Basnet and Rajan Burlakoti filed a petition saying that the plates were imprinted with English language which violated the constitutional provision that mandates the use of Devanagari script in any government work. Chief justice Gopal Parajuli issued an interim order to halt the installation of embossed number plates in February 2018. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In November 2019, a bench comprising Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and five members dismissed the writ and opened way for fixing the embossed number plate. Though DoTM was preparing to install the number plates from February. However, the process got halted due to the lockdown. According to Tirtha Raj Khanal, director of DoTM, has resumed the process with the easing of the lockdown. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">DoTM had signed a contract with Decatur Tiger to install embossed number plates on 2.5 million vehicles in five years. As the process got halted due to the interim order, only 4,600 vehicles were installed with the embossed number plates. Khanal said that the company, which has been producing the number plates even after the interim order of the Supreme Court, has already produced 2,00,000 number plates. “The plates are ready. Now, we will move ahead with the installation process,” said Khanal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">According to DoTM, the number plates vehicles registered in the Bagmati Province will get the new number plates in the first phase. DoTM has allocated four locations at Transport Management Office, Gurjudhara, Vehicle Inspection Centre, Teku, Transport Office, Ekantakuna and Department of Transport Management, Minbhawan for the purpose. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-06', 'modified' => '2020-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11921', 'image' => '20200706034212_embossed num plates.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-06 15:38:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '12173', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Indifference Puts Rs 10 billion Investment in Transport Sector at Risk', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The country’s transportation sector has been mired in various troubles due to the government’s indifference to formulate concrete work procedures to resume the public transport. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">July 5: The country’s transportation sector has been mired in various troubles due to the government’s indifference to formulate concrete work procedures to resume the public transport. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Though, the government has permitted private vehicles to ply on roads, it is yet to allow operation of public vehicles. Transport entrepreneurs say that due to prolonged lockdown, they have not been able to pay installment of bank loans. Similarly, adding to the mounting losses of transport entrepreneurs is damages to vehicles due to non-operation for long time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE), there are around 200,000 vehicles across in the public transportation sector currently with total investment of around Rs 10 billion employing more than 50,00,000 people. According to Saroj Sitaula, general secretary of FNNTE, the government must be serious about plights faced by transport entrepreneurs, workers and the general public. “The government needs to come up with work procedures as soon as possible to allow operation of public transport by implementing necessary health safety measures,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Transport company operators argue that the current situation cannot go forever as damages to vehicles due to keeping idle for long has added to their expenses. Currently, 72 buses of Sajha Yatayat have been parked at the garage. Two buses are now operating at the airport. According to Bhusan Tuladhar, executive director of Sajha Yatayat, the buses need to be repaired. “It is obvious for vehicles to get damaged because of non-operation for long,” he said, “However, we are yet to study about the damages.” Citing examples of other countries where public transportation has resumed after the easing of the lockdown, Tuladhar mentioned that is not difficult to operate public buses by maintaining health safety measures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Mayur Yatayat has also parked its 44 buses. “The government should provide relief to the transport sector. It should have provided us with concessions on interest on loans and extension of loan repayment schedul. But we cannot expect relief measures at the moment as the people in the politics are busy in power struggle,” expressed Mohan Shrestha, chairman of Mayur Yatayat. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">Though transport entrepreneur have talked to ministers and other high officials for multiple times over the last few weeks, the government has not decided on the module of operation of public vehicles. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"">According to FNNTE General Secretary Sitaula, the government has not started working anything regarding the resumption of public transport though the entrepreneurs provided their suggestions in written and verbal forms. “We are in official and unofficial discussions with vehicle owners and transport sector workers. Now we are preparing to put pressure on the government for resumption of public transport,” he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-07-05', 'modified' => '2020-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11920', 'image' => '20200705035220_public transport.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-07-05 15:50:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '31' ) ) ) $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
