KATHMANDU: Economic Digest, a daily morning email digest, is basically a relatable summation of important business news from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.

Construction of dry port at Timure faces a labor shortage

The construction of a dry port at the Rasuwagadhi border point has been affected due to the shortage of labor as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus in China.

According to Pramod Acharya, a civil engineer of the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB), construction of dry port cannot speed up due to a shortage of labor. “Construction work has not stopped but the shortage of labor will likely affect the timeline of the project,” said Acharya.

According to him, 7% of the construction work has been completed so far. Out of 24 Chinese workers involved in the construction work, only nine are present at the construction site.

Arun-3 achieves financial closure

The Arun-3 Hydropower Project has finally achieved financial closure.­­ The mega project is estimated to cost Rs 111.36 billion. It’s per megawatt generation cost is Rs 123.7 million which is among the cheapest in Nepal.

The project inked financial closure agreement with State Bank of India (SBI), Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Canara Bank, Union Bank of India from India and Nepali banks Everest Bank and Nabil Bank in Kathmandu on Thursday.

Additional loan of $200m given by World Bank

For the implementation of the Earthquake Housing Reconstruction Project, the World Bank has approved an additional $200 million loan. Initially, the World Bank approved a $200 million credit for EHRP in 2015 and in 2017 another $300 million credit was again approved.

The $200 million funds are expected to benefit an additional 86,680 houses in 32 districts that were affected by the 2015 earthquakes.

Rs 10 million worth of red roses for February 14

As Valentine’s Day nears, florists in Kathmandu have ordered 130,000 long stem red roses worth Rs. 10 million. As local flower growers are only able to provide 30,000-40,000 roses for Valentine’s Day, florists have to import roses from India to meet the demand of 150,000 red roses for February 14.

IBC gets over Rs 30 million grant

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has provided Rs 30.169 million grant for the construction of Dhamma Hall of the International Buddhist Centre (IBC). KMC mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya provided the said amount to the chairperson of the Centre, Pratik Ratna Tamrakar.

On the occasion, mayor Shakya said that the KMC has been carrying out activities for infrastructure development, city service management and reconstruction of heritages.

Tea didn’t get the value

Tea prices have been steadily declining in the Indian market. The preparation of tea is left in the warehouse without cost. Entrepreneurs have to leave the preparatory tea in the warehouse after the investment has not been raised. The price of tea prepared this year has decreased by about 50 percent this year.

Entrepreneurs have not been able to sell tea since the price has dropped dramatically. There is no provision for oxen for tea sales in Nepal. The price of tea here depends on the Indian trader.

(Compiled and prepared by Swastik Aryal, Akash Shrestha, Nitish Lal Shrestha, Diana Zulkifli)

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.