Public, private sector must work to make prices competitive: Pun

Kathmandu, July 29

Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun said on Monday that the government and private sector must work together to reduce the cost of goods transportation to make prices of goods competitive in the international markets.

"Better policies, modern technology and infrastructure will facilitate trade while quality goods will create competitive advantages. These demand effective public-private collaboration," he said while addressing the Silver Jubilee celebration programme of the Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA).

He pointed towards the need of establishing the facility to measure the quality of goods in the country at the earliest.

According to him, Nepal will soon be able to conduct import-export business through railway and inland waterways. In addition to it, two international airports in Bhairahawa and Pokhara will also open new gateway for trade.

VP Pun expressed his concerns to the growing trade imbalance and said that the ever-growing trade deficit had negative impacts on the economic growth and national prosperity.

"Export trade of Nepal is not satisfactory. It imported goods worth Rs. 1299 billion in the last Fiscal Year 2018/19 and exported goods of just 87.8 billion," he said.

He stated that there was no alternative to increasing export and suggested to utilise the natural and human resources available in the country as the idle resources will not contribute to development.

Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, said that the government had initiated works to enhance the access to the sea.

"The train service will soon be connected with Biratnagar. We have also asked India that Nepal wants to operate its own railways in India. Support is also sought from India in developing inland waterways," he said. 

Nepal has asked India to allow the use of Dhamra and Mundra ports as well, he informed.

According to Adhikari, the cargo tracking system has shortened the duration by 3-4 days and reduced detention and demurrage charges.

Manjeev Singh Puri, Ambassador of India to Nepal, informed that the letter of exchange on bulk cargo operation was ready, and both the countries were in the final stage of materialising it.

He said that India was adopting automation in customs and transit facilities which would ultimately support in Nepal's international trade as well.

Prakash Singh Karki, President of the NEFFA, said that the Multimodal Act and bylaws should be amended and act on warehouse and cargo was needed for the timely development of the freight business.

"The international cargo movement is different from the domestic transportation system and has greater responsibility and liability as it directly impacts domestic as well as international trade. This should be understood by the policy makers," he said.

He demanded the removal of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on transportation.

He suggested expediting the development of inland waterways infrastructure.

"Laws on ship registration and inland waterways operation should be formulated at the earliest and invite private sector businesses to run the facilities," said Karki. He also urged to develop cargo-friendly system at the Bhairahawa and Pokhara international airports.

Bhawani Rana, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) urged Nepal and India to lessen the hassles in trade and cargo movement.

"It was nice to hear Indian commitment to improve the logistic sectors including infrastructure to ease international trade," she said. "Transit time should be shorten, tariff charge from the logistics companies need to be brought down."

S. Ramkrishna Rao, Chairman of Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India, said that the cooperation and collaboration among Nepal, India and Bangladesh in terms of freight handling and forwarding could create sin-win situation for all.

Satish Kumar More, President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) said that the bulk cargo should allowed to different entry points to Nepal.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 July 2019. 

Nepal seeks change in logistics to cut trade cost

Kathmandu, July 28

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said on Sunday that the trilateral transit arrangements involving Nepal-India and Bangladesh would change the logistics landscape of the sub-region.

"With such arrangements, we can explore the possibilities of utilising inland waterways in this sub-region going beyond the road and rail networks," Prime Minister Oli said while addressing the India-Nepal Logistic Summit 2019.

Bangladesh had permitted Nepal to use the facilities at the Mongla Port since September 1997, following the opening of Kakarbhitta-Phulbari-Banglabundh transit route. It has also permitted additional rail corridor to Nepal via Rohanpur-Singhabad for transit.

However, these transit facilities with and through Bangladesh for Nepal’s international trade are yet to be operationalised, Prime Minister Oli said.

He also suggested enhancing cooperation under the BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) framework to improve connectivity and logistics.

Stating that it was critical for a landlocked country like Nepal to be connected with the neighbourhood, region and to the rest of the world, the Prime Minister lamented that despite improvements made over the years, Nepal was still bearing the brunt of high logistic cost in the transit transport of goods, both export and import. 

"Nepal cannot afford this," he said, and maintained that the only way to reduce the high trade cost is to upgrade and streamline both hard connectivity of infrastructure and soft connectivity in terms of administrative procedure.

He also underscored that connectivity remains a topmost agenda in Nepal-India bilateral cooperation framework.

Prime Minister Oli expressed happiness that his vision for inland waterways was being translated into reality.

"There exists an organic linkage between the mighty Himalayas and the oceans in ecological terms.  By promoting waterways, we would be building economic and commercial linkages between them. The whole idea is to greatly facilitate the movement of goods, services and people and promote overall connectivity," he said.

Nepal has already established a shipping office, and technical experts from both sides are studying other details for making waterways operational in the rivers of Nepal and India at the earliest possible time.

According to Prime Minister Oli, inland waterways will be a game changer in transport transit system. It will not only reduce cost of transit transport but also diversify transit transport options. It will benefit both the countries.

"This is the kind of innovation and dynamism we want to inject into our cooperative partnership," he said.

He stated that although the roads had been widened at the both sides of Nepal-India border and travel time of cargo trucks had been cut short, severe bottlenecks still existed in terms of the quality of roads connecting north India's national highways to key points at the border.

"Cargo trucks still queue for hours and creep on these poor stretches," he said.

Prime Minister Oli demanded reciprocal arrangement of granting permission to vehicles at the border points.

Bilateral motor vehicle agreement of 2014 between the two neighbours is in operation. It has the potential to facilitate movement of people across the border in a smooth manner, but Nepali vehicles face hassles while getting permit for movement in India.

"In view of the changing dynamics of trade and transit, we have initiated review of both transit treaty and railway service agreement. Further simplification of transit process would bring positive impact on economic growth and development of Nepal," PM Oli said.

According to him, transhipment of consignment up to land ports in Nepal; full implementation of electronic cargo tracking system; diversification of railway points in Nepal and operationalisation of soon-to-start Nepal railway for transit transport are some of the key issues requiring thoughtful consideration by India.

Another issue is the access to new ports in India. Nepal has requested India to provide Dhamra, Odisha and Mundra, Gujrat ports facility.

"We are hopeful that these will be realised soon. Nepal, on its part, is ready to take the needful action," said Prime Minister Oli.

He suggested developing dedicated freight corridors between ports in India and land ports in Nepal, both dedicated, uninterrupted rail and road corridors.

On administrative aspect, it would be easier for traders if the operation hours of customs on both sides would be extended.

According to him, delivery of cargo from ships at Kolkata and other ports directly to Nepal-bound trucks can phenomenally help reduce congestion in the port, cost of transportation and saving of time.

"Both countries should establish efficient testing facilities for their export products close to their borders along with smart certification services to ensure the delivery of qualitative and hygienic products," he said.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri said that that lowering trade cost between Nepal and India would be a game changing situation.

N. Sivasailam, Special Secretary (Logistics) at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India, said that multiple efforts to facilitate trade between the two countries were initiated lately.

"We are doing our best to improve the logistic situation in India, it will automatically benefit Nepal's trade with India and the third countries," he said.

Bhawani Rana, President of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Supply (FNCCI), said that the summit would create greater awareness about the logistics situation in terms of Nepal-India trade, and further strengthen the cooperation between the two countries.

The Summit is organised by the FNCCI, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply and Maritime Logistics – an Indian magazine.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 July 2019. 

India can allow importers to change cargo entry point

Kathmandu, July 27

India has shown positive signals to allowing the Nepali importers to change the freight destination point at the Nepal-India border.

It said that if Nepal presented better locations of its convenience, the process to provide the facility, of changing the entry point of the Nepal bound cargo, could be initiated.

“The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has not received the demand formally. When Nepal presents the specific locations or entry points, the process will be started,” said N. Sivasailam, Special Secretary (Logistics) at the MoCI, India at a meeting with Nepali freight forwarders and traders at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Both the countries are developing trade infrastructures like the Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) and dry ports at the border to facilitate cross-border trade.

He said that there were issues related to documentation and logistics in Nepal’s trade with third countries through India, most of which would be addressed with the improved infrastructure and system automation.

“Improved logistics and infrastructure will equally benefit India as well while the automation will promote electronic documentation, process, invoices and payments,” Shivasailam said.

According to him, he was here to hear from Nepali business community about the issues on Nepal related trade and find the solutions to improve the environment.

Bhawani Rana, President of the FNCCI, said that the implementation of the e-system will reduce the cost of trade in the part of Nepal and will contribute in improving the overall business environment.

Rajan Sharma, former President of the Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA), raised the issue of increased cost of trade due to the implementation of the e-tracking of cargo and consignment in Nepal-bound cargo.

The government had decided to implement e-tracking of the Nepal-bound cargo and consignment from the Kolkata and Haldiya Port some month ago and web-based vehicle and consignment tracking system to keep track of the whereabouts of the cargo carrying containers and trucks from this fiscal year.

“The Indian secretary has assured us that he would personally monitor the logistics’ situation and try to improve it. The FNCCI will submit written recommendations on the issue to the secretary,” said Sharma while talking with The Rising Nepal.

In the meeting, Nepali entrepreneurs had raised issues of insufficiency of train bogies, unloading facility the goods at the port, and keeping them in warehouses had increased the cost of trade. The delay in sending the goods to Nepal had been incurring a huge detention charges.

Meanwhile, Nepal and India are setting to amend the Trade, Transit treaties and Railway Service Agreement (RSA) and mulling to promote the inland waterways to facilitate trade between the two countries.

In the recent commerce joint-secretary level talks with India in June this year, Nepal had asked to allow the Indian private train operators to carry Nepal-bound cargo from Kolkata and Bishakhapattnam ports to Nepal.

The two countries are also planning to open ICPs in multiple locations at the Nepal-India border.

Meanwhile, the FNCCI is organizing Nepal-India Logistics Summit 2019 jointly with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Maritime Gateway magazine, and in association with the NEFFA. The summit will deliberate on the current challenges and way to resolve them.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 July 2019. 

Committee recommends strong Chure Landscape Authority

Kathmandu, July 26

Preliminary evaluation of the President Chure Terai-Madhes Conservation Development Programme (PCTMCDP) has suggested establishing a strong Chure Landscape Authority.

“A powerful authority with full fledge responsibility from central to local levels is needed for the overall development of the Chure region,” PCTMCDP said at a programme organised at the National Planning Commission on Friday.

It recommended formulating a comprehensive Chure Act and other policies, rules and regulations to maintain a harmony in programme execution.

The committee has made a special note that the budget allocated to the programme is very small and not utilised properly.

“The Chure Master Plan had proposed Rs. 10 billion capital budget to the programme which would be increased to Rs. 19 billion in the second year, but it has got only Rs. 1.5 billion,” said Prof. Krishna R. Tiwari, programme expert and committee leader.

Master Plan and Guidelines are strong achievements, but there is a lack of act and regulation which has resulted in weak implementation and monitoring. At the same time, the programme is further constrained by the changing political structure with different level of governments managing and conserving the resources.

“Similarly, the board lacks legal authority, it does not function as a solid authoritative institutional setup while there is an ad hoc organisational set up at the provincial and central levels,” said Prof. Tiwari.

The committee said that the national priority highways and unplanned rural roads in the Chure region had resulted in environmental and ecological deterioration which has increased annual flooding and inundation of the Dun, Bhavar and Terai-Madhes.

Forest encroachment and sloping land cultivation, changing river course and deposition of debris and silt, excessive extraction of river bed materials, and wild forest fires are mentioned as other major challenges in Chure conservation and development.

The committee has recommended to differentiate the upstream and downstream needs, scale up intervention and institutionalise it and devise better strategies for fire protection.

It has asked the government to carry out systemic geological and hydro-geological investigation of each watershed in the Chure region, construct recharge ponds in the region a few kilometers up section from the Chure-Bhabar boundary.

Similarly, there is a need to identify appropriate or inappropriate places for construction material mining and apply engineering and non-engineering techniques to control hazards like soil erosion, landslide, bank cutting and flooding.

“Adopt Mountain Risk Engineering principles in linear-infrastructure development,” recommended the committee.

Chure covers 12.78 per cent area of the country of which 74 per cent landscape is covered with forest. Fourteen of Nepal’s total 118 ecosystems lie in Chure hills and 12 lie in Terai-Madhes region.

Chure has seven protected areas (national parks and wildlife reserves), 10 protected forests, four ramsar wetlands and 17 paleo-historical and archaeological wetlands.

The evaluation was conducted by the Institute of Forestry at the Tribhuvan University with a committee comprising programme expert Prof. Krishna R. Tiwari, policy and institution expert Porf. Ridish K. Pokharel, forest and biodiversity expert Santosh Rayamajhi, watershed management and Geographical Information System expert Binod P. Heyjoo and socio-economic and livelihood expert Bir B. Khanal Chhetri.

Faculties of the IOF’s Pokhara and Hetauda campuses also were involved in field data and evaluation.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 July 2019. 

Unnati and Sahakarya announce merger

Kathmandu, July 25

Unnati Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Limited and Sahakarya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited have agreed for merger.

The two class 'D' banks signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the merger on Thursday. Chairperson of Unnati and Sahakarya Anita Dhungana Shaha and Khilaraj Mainali respectively signed the MoU along with the members of the board of directors of the two companies.

The two microfinance institutions have agreed for the merger with the aim to make the new company more competitive and create a powerful and sustainable institution. "With the merger announcement, we have agreed to work more rigorously in poverty reduction and raise the economic standards of people, increase financial access of poor and marginalised communities and offer better return to the investors and shareholders," read the MoU.

They have agreed to launch joint transaction by the end of the first six months of the current Fiscal Year 2019/20.

Head office of the merged institution will be managed at the current head office of Unnati in Siddarthanagar Municipality of Rupandehi district and the head office of Sashakarya will be run as the provincial office.

By the end of the last FY 2018/19, Unnati has Rs. 88.2 million and Sahakarya Rs. 14 million paid-up capital. Promotor and general share ratio of the new company will be 70:30.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 July 2019. 

CNI, NCC appreciate Monetary Policy

Kathmandu, July 25

The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) on Thursday appreciated the Monetary Policy of the current fiscal year 2019/20 for creating the bases for high economic growth of 8.5 per cent and desired inflation.

"The Monetary Policy has tried to address the demand of private sector about predictable interest rate and its stability and announced some monetary instruments to contain it. Reduction in the bank rate and refinancing rate, and provision to effectively implement the interest rate corridor are the positive steps," both the organisations said.

Nepal Rastra Bank, the banking sectcor regulator, had unveiled the Monetary Policy for the current fiscal on Wednesday.

CNI said that that policy had given enough attention to managing liquidity in the market. Facility to mobilise deposits from the Non-Resident Nepalis and institutional foreign depositors are welcome steps, it said.

"The policy has enlarged the bases for the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) for obtaining loan from foreign institutions. The NRB has shown greater flexibility in the interest of foreign loan. These provisions will help increase the liquidity and bring down the interest rate," read the CNI statement.

However, it cautiously appreciated the mandatory provision that asks the BFIs to issue long-term bonds.

Though it might help in creating financial stability and reducing imbalance between assets and liabilities, it is yet to see to what extent it would support in reducing the interest rate of business loan given that the interest of such bonds is two digits, it said.

"We have estimated that the demand of private sector loan will increase this year. Therefore, to maintain financial stability and create enough liquidity in the market, the NRB should implement the liquidity indicators of the Basel III," read the statement.

CNI has appreciated the incentives for merger and acquisition. But it said that concession for high credit rating industries in credit facility and merchandising to the third country and provision to import industrial goods without the Letter of Credit were not addressed by the policy.

But NCC said that the policy did not have plausible instruments to contain inflation and maintain liquidity.

"It has partially addressed the issues of business loan facility and growing interest rate. Without addressing these two, rapid economic growth might not take the desired momentum," it said.

NCC said that it had proposed 3.5 per cent spread rate to the central bank but the Monetary Policy had put it at 4.4 per cent.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 July 2019. 

Nepal nominated as Chair of the EIF

Kathmandu, July 25

Nepal is nominated, by consensus, for the first time from Asia, as the Chair of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Board for the year 2019-2021.

Mani Prasad Bhattarai, Ambassador/Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Nepal in Geneva, will represent the country for this position, said the mission in a statement. 

Established in 2007, the EIF is the multilateral partnership mechanism initiated by the World Trade Organisation which is exclusively working for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to support their better integration into the multilateral trading system.

The EIF mechanism is the partnership of 51 countries (47 LDCs and four graduating LDCs), 24 donors and eight partner agencies working closely with the governments, development organisations and civil society to assist LDCs to use trade as an engine for development and poverty reduction.

"It extends technical and financial support to LDCs and works as a platform to leverage further resources in collaboration with other development partners and government ministries in trade sector," read the statement.

In Nepal, EIF has supported for trade mainstreaming, human resources development, institutional and productive capacity building.

Three projects, namely, Pashmina Enhancement and Trade Support Project (PETS), Ginger Project and Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) Project are underway since 2012.

The handover and takeover of the chairmanship will take place in September.

Previously, Benin, Sierra Leon, Ethiopia and Lesotho have assumed the role as the chair of the EIF Board.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 July 2019. 

KCC Exhibit to feature innovative projects

Kathmandu, July 25

Kantipur City College (KCC) is organizing KCC Exhibit 2019, a students’ project exhibition, on Friday and Saturday at its premises in Putalisadak.

The exhibit is being organised with the theme 'Ingenious thoughts, Sustainable solutions'. The event is aimed at displaying student's innovative works to interact with industries, organizations and academic institutions, said the KCC.

Over 26 innovative projects (from ICT, Electronics and Civil Engineering Departments), game stalls, 4 food stalls, musical concert and conference on the theme 'Technology for Sustainability (T4S)' will be major attractions of the exhibition.

"Some interesting projects include Restaurant Order Management using QR-Code, robots, home automation, quadcopter, Koteshwor Traffic System, rain water harvesting model, smart city model and Nepali house model for reconstruction," said the college.

There will also be a musical concert by singer Pramod Kharel, dancer Binu Shakya and folk singer Nisha GM among others.

In the seminar, Mahabir Pun will deliver a lecture on SDG 9, industry and infrastructure, Dr. Deepak Bikram Thapa Chhetri on disaster, Ujjwal Upadhyaya on climate change and Mayor of Waling Municipality Dilip Pratap Khand on SDG 11, smart city.  Professor Dr. DK Lobiyal from the Jawaharlal National University (JNU) will deliver the key-note address.

Minister of Youth and Sports, Jagat Bahadur Sunar (Bishwokarma) will inaugurate the event.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 July 2019. 

EPF starts direct to bank account payments

Kathmandu, July 25

The Employee Provident Fund (EPF) has started automating the collateral based loan disbursement directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiary contributors from Thursday.

It will make the payment by using Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL)’s payment systems, namely NCHL-IPS and connectIPS e-Payment.

The first few transactions were made by Tulasi Prasad Gautam, Administrator of EPF in the presence of Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan, Chief Executive Officer of the NCHL and other high officials of EPF, NCHL and banks.

The EPF can now disburse the approved loan amount as per the loan scheme directly into the respective EPF contributor’s bank account maintained at any of the member banks and financial institutions (BFIs) of NCHL.

It has integrated its system with NCHL to automate all its payouts and collection transactions.

“The EPF will be extended for other payout products also and will soon be used for collections from the contributors as well,” said the EPF.

To avail the facility, the contributor should update their KYC related to beneficiary bank account details.

The contributor will no longer need to collect cheque and process at the bank for clearing and realisations. All payments up to Rs. 1 million will be credited on real-time basis through connectIPS e-Payment, whereas high value payments will be processed through NCHL-IPS system to be credited after the settlement on same day or maximum by the next day.

Over 2.5 lakh payments are made by the EPF every year. These payments are processed by issuing cheques. After the full implementation of new initiative, cheque based payments will be phased out with complete replacement by e-payments through bank accounts.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 July 2019. 

Private sector not satisfied with the Monetary Policy

Kathmandu, July 24

Private sector has expressed dissatisfaction over the Monetary Policy. President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Bhawani Rana said that the Monetary Policy had not addressed most of the demand of the business community. "We have hoped that the central bank will take some innovative steps in addressing the liquidity crisis but the topic is not addressed properly," she said.

However, the private sector demand to reduce service charge has been included in the policy, and the spread rate has also been addressed partially.

Vice-President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce Kamlesh Kumar Agrawal also said that the liquidity crisis and interest rate issues were not properly addressed by the policy. "It has not encouraged the private sector. We have recommended to brought down the spread rate to 3.5 per cent but the NRB has set it at 4.4 per cent," he said.

However, Vice-President of the Federation of Nepalese Cottage and Small Industries Mohan Katuwal said that the new Monetary Policy would increase the access of small entrepreneurs to finance. "It will help in entrepreneurship development. But there are not clear provisions about them," he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 25 July 2019. 

Merger top priority

Monetary Policy 2019/20

Kathmandu, July 24

Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal has announced the Monetary Policy for the Fiscal Year 2019/20 with emphasis on the merger of commercial banks and microfinance institutions and expansion of monetary instruments to agriculture and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

He has announced incentives for the big merger – merger of class 'A' commercial banks that have at least Rs. 8 billion paid-up capital – that happen within the current fiscal.

Unlike the other commercial banks, the institutions opting for merger will have additional one year space to meet the priority sector lending provision and issue bonds equal to a quarter of paid up capital till mid-July 2021.

"The duration to maintain the spread rate at 4.4 per cent has also been extended to 2021 mid-July for the commercial banks that go for the merger. Similarly, they need not to get approval from the central bank to expand their branches," said Dr. Nepal. "Cooling period provision will also not be applied for those institutions."

According to NRB provisions, members of the Board of Directors, chief executive officers, deputy CEOs of the Bank and Financial Institutions (BFIs) cannot join other BFIs in any capacity for at least six months from the quitting of their previous job.

The Monetary Policy has also announced incentives for microfinance merger as well.

They will also enjoy provisions like 'no cooling period' and increased lending ceiling to Rs. 1.5 million from existing Rs. 1 million collateral-based lending to the group members in the rural municipality. They also can take their staff's salaries and allowances as deposits.

Dr. Nepal said that the BFIs that have a sizable investment from a single investor would be kept in priority for the merger and acquisition.

"Consolidation of the BFIs is given priority in order to enhance the access of people in the financial services and increase the banking sector's capacity in resource mobilisation," he said.

The new Monetary Policy has asked the commercial banks to issue bonds equal to 25 per cent of their paid-up capital. The money raised from selling the bonds can be mobilised in loans.

Banks to accept gold deposit

The central bank has announced that it will formulate a policy to deposit gold in the banks. The ceiling of loan amount that required the Permanent Account Number (PAN) is reduced to Rs. 5 million from the existing Rs. 10 million.

"BFIs can accept fixed deposits from the institutional foreign depositors or Non-Resident Nepalis in foreign currency for more than two years. The banks having such deposits can mobilise loan equal to such deposits in Nepali currency," said Dr. Nepal.

The bank rate (interest rate charged by the NRB to the domestic BFIs while lending money to the latter) is reduced to 6 per cent from existing 6.5 per cent.

Likewise, special refinancing rate is not changed from the current 1 per cent but common refinancing rate is brought down to 3 per cent from 4 per cent. Similarly, the BFIs mobilising the special refinancing can charge 3 per cent interest at the most as in previous years, but they can charge up to 7 per cent interest in common refinancing.

The 10 per cent Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) for commercial banks, 8 per cent for development banks and 7 per cent for finance companies is kept intact.

SME refinancing rate 3 per cent

 The central bank has announced that the interest rate of the collateral-based refinancing facility up to Rs. 1 million to the SMEs will be reduced to 3 per cent from existing 5 per cent while the BFIs can charge only 7 per cent interest in such loans. Previously, they were charging 10 per cent in mobilising the refinancing facility.

Small and medium size loan to agriculture and agro-industry is simplified through the Monetary Policy. It has announced to make provisions to facilitate such lending with allowing the BFI to charge plus 2 per cent interest on the base rate, no service charge and no advance payment charge.

"Such loans must be approved within seven days from the application date. If the respective BFI is unable to mobilise the loan, it must provide clear reason to the customer," said Governor Dr. Nepal.

The Infrastructure Development Bank cannot lend less than Rs. 30 million to any project.

Consumer Protection

The NRB will have Financial Consumer Protection Unit at its headquarters to address the grievances of the customers and enhance credibility of the banking industry.

New provision will be implemented whereby the BFIs should provide information about their services to consumer through the Audio Notice Board, free of cost. They will also need to maintain their official websites in Nepali language and install Cash Deposit Machines (CDM).

 Dr. Nepal said that the NRB had adopted policy to expand the financial services to all 6,743 wards of 753 local units and the BFIs need not to get approval of the central bank to open branchless banking in the wards.

Microfinance companies can open a branch in the metropolitan city or sub-metropolis or district headquarters only after establishing a branch in municipalities and rural municipalities other than the district headquarters. They have to mandatorily mobilise one-third of their lending to agricultural sector.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 25 July 2019. 

IBN shortlists best projects

Kathmandu, July 23

The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) is set to announce the companies that would invest in the large infrastructure projects showcased at the Nepal Investment Summit in April this year, within a week.

It has completed the short-listing of the best investment proposals in the projects showcased at the summit. A committee comprising of technical team from the IBN and representatives from the concerned ministries has recently concluded the screening of the applications.

Of the 50 government projects presented at the summit, investors have applied for 31 projects. The IBN has received the investment commitment of Rs. 3.1 trillion in those projects from the investors of about 21 countries around the globe. The amount is equal to 91 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in the last fiscal year 2018/19.

“We have received 71 applications for the 31 projects. Some projects have received multiple investment applications with a couple of them having up to seven proposals,” said Balram Rijyal, spokesperson of the IBN.

The projects were screened on the basis of the financial capability of the applicant company and their past experience. The selected companies will be asked to prepare the detailed development proposal, including the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and feasibility study.

As some of the projects are not ready, we need to conduct feasibility studies, said Rijyal.

The IBN has recently approved the investment in three private sector projects – Freight Station Bulk Handling Terminal in Butwal and Birgunj, World Buddhist Exhibition Park in Lumbini and 550 MW solar projects in seven provinces.

Indian-Nepali joint venture, Chinese and Pilipino companies are investing in those projects respectively. Other seven private sector projects are under discussion at the board. About 27 private sector projects were showcased at the summit.

The public projects included infrastructure like transportation, urban development, energy, tourism, education and health, manufacturing, aviation and logistics projects.

The Kathmandu-Pokhara-Lumbini Electrified Railways project is the largest project proposed by the government which costs about 3.35 billion US dollars. Other mega projects are Kathmandu Metro Project, East-West Electrified Railways and Nijgadh International Airport with 3 billion Dollars each.

However, there are medium-size project as well like 3.14 million Dollars Integrated Agri Infrastructure Project in Godawari, Attaria, 4.3 million dollars Solid Waste Mangement Project in Dhulikhel and 4.43 million Dollars Integrated Agri Infrastructure Project in Banepa and Chitwan.

Following the investment summit, the government had set April 20 as the deadline for investors to apply for their choice of project among the 77 ventures showcased at the mega convergence. The date was later extended to March 20.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 July 2019. 

Two million houses needed to fulfill right to housing

Kathmandu, July 22

Minister for Finance Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada said on Monday that the government had to build about 2 million houses if the right to housing was to be fulfilled as provisioned in the Constitution.

"Decent housing is included in the Constitution as the fundamental right of every citizen. But it is a distant dream given the limited resources currently available," he said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of conference on 'The path to universal social protection in Nepal: the role of integration and harmonisation'.

The government had launched Janata Awas Programme in 2010 to provide shelter to the deprived communities, Dalits and people in vulnerable conditions.

Social protection is a fundamental right of every citizen in the country as it is enshrined in our Constitution so it’s a constitutional process, not political, said the Minister.

FM Dr. Khatiwada said that the government needed to increase its institutional capacity and resource mobilisation to fulfil the constitutional demands of social protection.

However, he maintained that work and employment were the best and sustainable ways of social protection while other measures were only for those who were unable to join the labour market.

"Enhancing the capability of every citizen in the society is the main aim of the government. People must be benefitted in a socially justified way," he said.

Dr. Khatiwada said that social protection was a powerful instrument of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"I believe that the income of poorer households should grow faster than the richer ones. For this, you have to invest in the rural infrastructure and job creation," he said.

According to him, the government is working to make the country a welfare state in medium term.

Old-age pension, youth scholarships, child grant, decent housing were some of the social protection schemes in practice in Nepal.

Minister Dr. Khatiwada said that there was need of consolidating all the schemes to eliminate the possibility of duplication and mulling to make them sustainable.

Jasmine Rajbhandary, Senior Social Protection Specialist at the World Bank, said that the establishment of unique beneficiary identification system and integrated database were the major challenges in social protection practice in the country.

Stating that social protection was needed to address inclusion, poverty and resilience, she maintained that the focus should be shifted to establishing an integrated policy framework, harmonising system, enhancing delivery and improving the design.

About 35 per cent Nepalis are covered by the social protection schemes like old age pension, single women pension, disability grant, child grant, mother protection and earthquake relief.

The seminar was jointly organised by the government and German Development Agency (GIZ).

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 July 2019. 

Committee formed to study Finance Act provisions

Kathmandu, July 21

The government has decided to form a five-member committee to study the complexity in the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in the transportation sector, Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Vehicle and Consignment Tracking System (VCTS).

Following the discussion with the representatives of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Sunday, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has decided to form a committee to study the controversial provisions in the Finance Act 2076. The committee will have two representatives from the MoF, two from the FNCCI and one independent expert.

The committee will study the problems created by the provisions in the Fiscal Act and submit its recommendations to the Ministry by Friday, July 26.

The Finance Act has come into effect from 17 July.

Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the government was serious about the problems created by the provisions of the new Finance Act. He promised to address the demands of the private sector and urged them to withdraw the protests and run businesses.

President of the FNCCI Bhawani Rana urged the government to immediately address the issues regarding the VAT, web-based VCTS and PAN since they might create challenges for the businesses, specially the micro, small and cottage enterprises.

"The government should create an environment where entrepreneurs can run their business and industry with confidence. Only then the business can contribute to the national economic growth," she said.

Earlier, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Friday had urged FM Dr. Khatiwada, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav and FNCCI President Rana to find the solutions to the problem.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 July 2019. 

Gyawali asks migrant workers to use safer channel

Kathmandu, July 21

Safer migration, decent work and safe repatriation of earnings are the three non-negotiable and uncompromisable principles adopted by the government in foreign employment, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said on Sunday.

"As our economy is not producing enough opportunities for youth to engage in employment, they are leaving home in search of jobs in foreign countries. Therefore, the government is highly concerned about the process and safety in foreign employment," he said while speaking at a talk on 'Nepal's Foreign Policy: Labour, society and culture in the economy' organised by Prabhas Chautari Nepal.

Only about 50,000 youth get jobs from 450,000 labour force that enters to the market every year.

Minister Gyawali said that the declining number of migrant workers from Nepal indicated that they were going for quality labour markets.

He urged one all to use safer channels and processes while going to foreign land as migrant workers.

"The government has implemented a provision to attest the demand letter from the embassy stationed in the concerned country to make sure that Nepali workers are not being cheated," he said.

The Foreign Minister presented indigenous culture, diversity, Buddhism, smiling people, Nepali diaspora and social inclusion as Nepal's soft power which could be promoted in the international diplomacy.

"Nepali people kept smiling even during the disasters like 2015 earthquake. We are hospitable people," he said.

Presenting a paper on international migration and remittance at the programme, Research Director of the South Asia Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) Paras Kandel said that the government statistics about the migrant workers needed to be revisited.

"The central bank data tells that about 56 per cent households receive remittance from abroad. But according to the National Labour Force Survey, they are the households receiving any remittance, whether from within Nepal or abroad," he said. "The percentage of households that receive remittances from any person abroad is about 30 per cent and the percentage that receives remittances from absentee members abroad is 24.7 percent."

He suggested providing sufficient information about the foreign employment saving bonds to the workers and their families in order to increase the subscription. In the past six years, the government was able to sell such bonds of only about Rs. 210 million.

Economist Keshav Acharya said that remittance had become the backbone of our economy and supported the country to make significant improvements in social sectors like maternal and child mortality and education even during the conflict period.

He suggested utilising foreign-returnee workers' skills through cooperatives and facilitating them with required funds and technology.

Similarly, Writer and Culture Expert Tulasi Diwas said that the tradition approach to look at the society and culture should be changed. "Culture a dynamic concept. It is not unproductive sector but can create jobs and economic opportunities," he said.

Consulting Editor of the Gorkhapatra Corporation Gopal Khanal said that Nepal had made a major policy departure in foreign affairs. "We are being heard and seen in the international arena," he said.

According to him, the government has maintained balanced international relations while promoting the national interest.

"Investment has become the top agenda in international meetings, seminars and bilateral engagements. PM has never talked about politics but economy and development," he said.

Foreign Affairs Expert Nishchal Nath Pandey asked the government to take note that many countries had shifted their visa service to New Delhi. He also suggested reorienting government focus to labour destinations like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia rather than the United Kingdom, United States of America and Australia where students go and stay there forever.

Education Expert Dr. Pramod Dhakal recommended to find the major drivers of attraction for youth in the foreign land and create such opportunities in the country.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 July 2019. 

Monsoon calamities affect 36,700 households

Kathmandu, July 20: The rain and floods since July 11 afternoon that claimed the life of  90 people, have affected more than 36,700 households in 15 districts so far.

About 9,948 houses in eight districts have been completely damaged in the floods and landslides, according to the recent situation report of the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA).

The disaster damaged the largest number of houses in Siraha and Mahottari district of State 2 where 5326 and 4562 houses are completely damaged. A large number of houses in these districts are still inundated.

Other districts witnessing complete house damage are Dhankuta, Udayapur, Bhojpur, Sunsari, Dang and Dhading.

Similarly, about 19,871 houses in six districts are partially damaged in the floods. More than 10,000 houses have been damaged in Siraha alone which is followed by Mahottari 7,963 and Udayapur 1,573 houses.

Likewise, 5,873 houses are partially affected.

The floods and inundation have temporarily displaced 13,101 households in 12 districts. Except Khotang and Dhankuta, no hill district has experiences severe human casualties or property damage. NEOC data show that the districts in State 2 are the most affected ones.

Temporarily displacement numbers are also high in State 2 districts – Siraha, Sarlahi, Bara, Rautahat and Parsa. Morang is the district that witnessed higher number of casualties and displacement in Province 1.

In addition to the death of 90 people, 29 disappeared and 41 injured in the monsoon disasters.

Highest number of casualties happened in Rautahat,Siraha, Lalitpur, Morang and Dolpa districts. Ten people died in the floods, one disappeared and five injured in Rautahat while six each were killed in Siraha and Lalitpur, and five in Morang.

Dolpa is the only mountainous ( himali) district which witnessed high casualties in the monsoon disaster. Four were died and seven disappeared in floods and landslides there.

Other districts having high number of death are Okhaldhunga, Mahottari, Kathmandu, Parsa, Kavrepalanchok, Jhapa and Khotang.

National Disaster Reduction and Management Executive Committee at the Disaster Precaution and Action Section at the MoHA has directed all the government and non-government agencies working in the humanitarian field to make the rescue and relief of the affected persons, families and communities and arrange safe shelter.

Published in The Rising Nepal Daily on 21 July 2019.