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

Govt unveils COVID-19 expenditure of Rs 8.39 bln

Details offered by the government show the three tiers of government: the federal, the province and the local governments have spent a sum of Rs. 8,391,199,000 in COVID-19 response.

According to the details, the central government has spent Rs.4, 105,506,000 while the province and the local governments have spent Rs. 1,300,499,000 and Rs. 2,985,194,000 respectively.

The details show that Rs. 3,908,800,000 was spent in importing medical goods and equipment from the Coronavirus Prevention, Control and Treatment Fund (CPCTF) established by the federal government.

Similarly, Rs. 1,125,000,000 has been spent for setting up health infrastructure, Rs. 58,333,000 for manpower mobilization, Rs. 135,598,000 for setting up quarantine facilities and Rs. 401,509,000 for other miscellaneous activities.

Province wise details show that Province 1 spent Rs. 193,560,000, Province spent Rs. 133,946,000, Bagmati Province spent Rs. 136,700,000, Gandaki Province spent Rs.154, 210,000 and Province 5 spent Rs. 77,930,000 in COVID-19 response till date.

Likewise, the Karnali Province has spent Rs. 239,283,000 and Sudurpaschim Province has spent Rs. 364,870,000 so far, as mentioned in the details made public by the government on Friday.

Pashupatinath income goes down by 100 million

Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has faced a loss of Rs 100 million during lockdown. Pashupatinath, the wealthiest temple in the country, has faced a massive hit as far as the monthly donations are concerned.

The temple has witnessed a drastic drop in the number of devotees. The various income sources of Pashupatinath have now plunged to zero, the PADT said.

Since the lockdown was imposed, the trust has faced losses of around Rs 100 million, said Dr Milan Kumar Thapa, treasurer of the PADT, The Rising Nepal reported.

He said the trust had been facing losses of almost Rs 1 million on a daily basis. The PADT used to collect Rs 100,000 to 250,000 from the offerings of devotees daily. Altogether, the trust has faced losses of almost Rs 15 million offered by the devotees, he added.

Nepalis from Oman returning to Nepal paying half of govt-set airfare

The Embassy of Nepal in Oman has taken an initiative to send interested Nepalis back home for half of the airfare the Nepali government had fixed some days ago.

The diplomatic mission in Oman has published a notice calling for applicants who want to go back to Nepal through the evacuation flights.

According to the notice issued by the embassy, the passengers can fly to Nepal for 298 US dollar (115 OMR). As per the evacuation schedule prepared by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the Nepal Airlines flight that was scheduled to take place on June 21 would cost the passengers $510.

The airfare Nepalis are paying now is almost half of what Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) charges.

The Nepali Embassy has rescheduled the flight and it will be carried out by Salam Air on June 15.

(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.