KATHMANDU: Economic Digest, a daily morning email digest, is basically a relatable summation of important business news from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.
Nepal’s pashmina sector gets European Union boost
A new project funded by the European Union to strengthen Nepal’s path towards more inclusive economic growth and greater integration into regional and global value chains was announced recently in Kathmandu.
Nepal’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) will partner with ITC in the project. The main objective of the project will be to increase trade and the participation of Nepali enterprises in regional and global value chains.
The project also emphasizes on increasing the capacities throughout Nepal’s coffee and pashmina value chain, with a view to connect coffee smallholders and farmers to market.
No hike in fuel prices despite increase in tax net: Finance Ministry
The Ministry of Finance has clarified that the market price of petroleum products will not be impacted despite an increase in infrastructure development tax.
Issuing a statement, the ministry said, “The price of petroleum products will not increase as the tax will be leveled against the profit of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and thus there will be no increase in price for consumers.”
The government has made a slight revision in the tax imposed on infrastructure development. With the revision, the government has increased it to Rs 10 per liter petroleum product at a customs point.
The decision to this was made by the Cabinet decision three days back. A total of Rs 41 billion has been raised so far with the tax of Rs 5 per liter in petroleum products at a customs point.
Nepal postpones int’l promotional campaign for Visit Nepal 2020
The government has postponed the international promotional campaign for Visit Nepal 2020. The announcement comes at a time when many countries in the world are being affected by coronavirus.
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai informed that all the international promotional campaigns have been postponed, adding that the government will now focus on internal tourism promotion.
He accepted that the spread of coronavirus has impacted Nepal’s ambitious mission to attract two million tourists.
Petroleum exploration work hampered due to coronavirus
The outbreak of Novel Coronavirus in China has affected the petroleum exploration work in Dailekh.
A Chinese team had carried out field research for five months in the Panchkoshi area. The team had already completed the work of statistics survey but due to the virus, the team has not been able to travel to China for its test.
A total of 10 line seismic surveys; three in the East-West and seven in the North-south area were carried out. The team had carried out petroleum, geological, magnet, telluric, geochemical and sampling surveys.
On the basis of the lab test report, the team will carry out deep drilling up to four kilometers.
Locals obstruct construction of Singati-Lamosangu transmission line
Demanding the change of route or appropriate compensation, the locals of Dolakha have obstructed the construction of the Singati-Lamosangu 132 kV transmission line project.
The construction is being affected as a local, Santosh Tamang has not allowed the construction of a tower on his land. Other affected locals have said that they will let the construction take place only after Tamang allows the construction of a tower on his land.
CDO Bhim Kant Sharma said that he has been trying his best to resolve the issue. “We will discuss with those who are obstructing the project and if they don’t agree, we will move forward according to the administrative law to complete the project.”
Naghdungha-Sisne Khola tunnel from Dhading side to be constructed
Shyam Prasad Kharel, project head of Nagdhunga Tunnel Construction Project, has said that the meeting held on Thursday has agreed to start the construction of the Naghdungha-Sisne Khola tunnel.
“Discussion between project officials and the local residents led to an agreement to start the construction work from Friday,” he said.
The conflict on the issue of compensation had affected the construction work of the tunnel from the Dhading side for the past two months. The contractor of the project had sent letters to the project office time and again for site clearance as the local residents had been obstructing further work.
Coronavirus affects construction of Chilime Trishuli transmission line
Coronavirus has affected the construction of the Chilime Trishuli transmission line. Construction materials have not been imported due to the virus outbreak.
The construction work for the transmission line was started on December 20, 2017, and the construction work was scheduled to be completed on June 13, 2019.
Fate of Sagarmatha Sambad hangs in balance amid virus fears
The first edition of the Sambad, scheduled for the first week of April, is likely to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak and the measures taken to limit its spread.
With speculation over major events like the Tokyo Olympics, there is concern about the first edition of Nepal’s Sagarmatha Sambad, slated for the first week of April.
Though the government has yet to postpone the dialogue, as officials are still assessing the situation, experts in the field of health and international relations say that the government should rethink the Sambad due to the large scale of the coronavirus outbreak.
Jhapa farmers growing tobacco, a crop more profitable than paddy
Easy market access and good value for their products are the major reasons for farmers to be attracted to tobacco farming.
Tobacco farming is done for four months, as soon as the paddy harvesting gets complete. Tobacco is being sold at Rs 3,000 per 40 kg. A kattha of land can produce 80 kg of tobacco, according to the farmers.
Tobacco traders go to the farmers’ fields to purchase the commodity. As the seeds for tobacco are being produced by farmers, the cost for farming is comparatively less.
(Compiled and prepared by Swastik Aryal and Nitish Lal Shrestha)
Nepal Economic Digest is a daily morning email digest, basically relatable summations of the most important business news, happenings from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries. The Institute for Strategic and Socio-Economic Research (ISSR), Nepal’s independent think tank, and Khabarhub — Nepal popular news portal — have joined hands to disseminate news from Nepal in the form of Economic Digest.
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