KATHMANDU: Economic Digest, a daily morning email digest, is basically a relatable summation of important business news from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.
Private sector asks for a 200-billion-relief package
Private sector entrepreneurs have demanded a relief package of Rs 200 billion to rescue the coronavirus pandemic-struck private sector.
The senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shekhar Golchha stated that the sector needs 5 percent of the economy.
Nepal’s economy is of 3,700 billion rupees. If the relief package is to be as per the demand of the private sector the package should be worth Rs 200 billion.
Nepal economy in problems as foreign remittances start dwindling
Nepal has braced for one of the biggest losses to its economy as the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated jobs and dwindled remittances from migrant workers.
Plunging remittances have threatened small economies of developing countries like Nepal that partially depend on money sent home by migrants.
According to the World Bank, Nepal received remittances worth $8.64 billion or 27.3 percent of its GDP in 2019, among the highest in South Asia.
However, a recent World Bank report warned that this year remittances could drop as much as 14 percent or $1.2 billion.
Remittance to decrease by 20% in FY 2019/20
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has said the remittance will decrease by 20 percent in the current fiscal year 2019/20.
Earlier, the Central Bureau of Statistics and World Bank had projected that the remittance inflow would go down by 18 percent 14 percent, respectively.
According to Gunakar Bhatta, Executive Director of NRB, the remittance inflow decreased by 50 percent in March-April compared to February-March. Rs 79.2 billion in remittance had entered Nepal in February-March, according to the statistics maintained by the NRB.
This came down to Rs 39.6 billion in March-April. Only 7.3 trillion remittances will enter Nepal in the current fiscal year, according to NRB’s projection.
DoL monitors whether or not hotels giving salary to staff
The Department of Labor is monitoring whether or not hotel operators have given salary for the Nepali month of Chaitra to their staffers.
The Department has initiated monitoring after complaints that several hotels have not given remuneration for the month of Chaitra despite the government’s instruction to compulsorily give salary for that month to their employees.
The hotel operators had earlier agreed during discussions with the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security.
DoL said the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) and the Joint Trade Union Coordination Committee will facilitate in the monitoring.
NC forms ‘economy-focused special committee’ to analyze COVID-19
The main opposition party, Nepali Congress has formed an ‘economy-focused special committee’ to study and analyze the impact of coronavirus in various sectors.
The committee will also prepare a vision of the party in this regard. The party NC, issuing a statement, said that party President Sher Bahadur Deuba formed the committee under the coordination of the former Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat.
Likewise, the committee has other members comprising leaders who had already served as finance minister, state minister, and vice-chairman at the National Planning Commission (NPC).
(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.
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