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 allows hotels and restaurants to resume operations from today
The government has allowed hotels and restaurants to resume their businesses starting Thursday.
A cabinet meeting made a decision to this effect, according to Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradip Kumar Gyawali, who is also the spokesperson of the government.
The hotel and restaurants, however, must abide by the health safety guidelines unveiled by the government to cater their services to visiting customers.
The decision to allow hotels and restaurants amid concerns that the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people employed in this sector was hit hard due to prolonged closure.
Most hotels and restaurants have remained closed since the government first enforced lockdown in March end to contain possible spread of the COVID-19.
Construction of four TIA projects completed
All four projects of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) deemed important has been completed even in the face of pandemic.
The construction of an international aircraft parking spot, international departure hall, international ‘arrival covered walkway’ and expansion of a 300-meter runway as a part of the capacity expansion plan has been completed.
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said the expansion of such important physical infrastructure of the airport has been completed on time even during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of continuous monitoring, direction and facilitation of managerial work of the project.
NEPSE gains 5.36 points, closes at 1,541.40
The NEPSE index on Wednesday closed at 1,541.40, gaining 5.36 points.
An overall 13.31 points volatility was witnessed today in the trading hours. While the highest point was 1,543.98, the lowest point stood at 1,530.67. Meanwhile, a total of 6,390,083 shares were traded to produce a turnover of Rs. 1.84 Arba.
Likewise, the float index gained some 0.3 points to close at 106.45. The sensitive index was at 305.48.
Over 10 companies, mostly hydropower companies, hit a 10 percent positive circuit on Wednesday.
Onion price hike: Pinching on consumer’s wallet
The price of onion has gone up from Rs 45 per kg on Tuesday morning to Rs 130 on Wednesday after India stopped exporting onions.
Consumers have complained that the price of onion has gone up by more than 100 percent in 24 hours in the Kalimati vegetable market.
The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee has also acknowledged that the traders have started arbitrarily fixing the price of onion.
Vinay Shrestha, deputy director of the market development committee, said that the market monitoring was started after some traders started selling onions at higher prices.
He said that 35 tons of onions came in the market on Monday but did not come on Tuesday.
He said that only three tonnes of Nepali onions came in when 3400 tonnes of onions entered the market in two months.
NRB to issue coins with new map including Limpiyadhura
The government has given approval to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to issue a one-rupee and two-rupee coins with a new map including Limpiyadhura.
The government has granted the approval to issue new coins to the NRB.
Spokesperson of the Government of Nepal Pradip Gyawali informed that approval has been given to the Central Bank to issue coins with the new map.
With the permission of the government, the process of issuing coins with new maps covering Limpiyadhura, Kalapani, Lipulekk and other areas will begin, said NRB.
Commercial banks, barring a few, reduce interest rates
As many as 14 commercial banks on Wednesday published their interest rates profile for the month of Asoj.
Several of them have retained their previous interest rates. The Civil Bank Limited has decreased the base rate to 9.51% from the previous 9.84%.
The Himalayan Bank Limited has also decreased the interest rate for saving schemes. The bank, which earlier provided interest from 2.75% to 4.75%, has set new rates from 2 – 4%.
Likewise, it has also dropped the interest for fixed deposits. Customers depositing money in fixed deposit will get interest payments in the range of 4% to 6%.
Meanwhile, the Siddhartha Bank Limited has also decreased the higher limit of the interest rate for fixed deposits to 8% from the previous 7.75%.
Likewise, Mega Bank has fixed its interest rates from 3% to 5% for saving scheme. Earlier, the bank’s range was 3.5% to 5%.
Similarly, the Nepal Investment Bank Limited has also reduced its base rate from 7.88% to 7.49%.
(Compiled and prepared by 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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