Weekly Economic Update

16 July 2021–22 July 2021

1. According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), capital expenditure in FY 2020/21 accounted for 64.69% of the total fund allocated under this heading, meaning the government managed to spend just NPR 227.73 billion out of the allocated sum of NPR 352.91 billion.
2. During the FY 2020/21, commercial banks of Nepal expanded their operations by 28.07% whereby they extended a total of NPR 815.44 billion additional loans and collected NPR 711.41 billion additional deposits.
3. The medical equipment imports doubled from NPR 8.08 billion to NPR 15.24 billion during the first 11 months of the FY 2020/21 compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year.
4. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a dent in the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow as the investment pledges declined by 14.81% to NPR 32.20 billion in FY 2020/21.
5. Over the period of last fiscal year (FY 2020/21), 322 MW of electricity has been integrated into the national grid according to the spokesperson of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
6. The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection (DoCSCP) collected NPR 33.37 million in fines from a total of 1347 firms that had violated consumer law and demolished NPR 39.85 million worth of subpar goods in FY 2020/21.
7. Revenue collection from the major transit point between Nepal and China, Tatopani customs point, fell short of the NPR 5.47 billion targets as only NPR 1.2 billion was collected in FY 2020/21.
8. Flight tickets to Delhi have experienced a rapid surge in price reaching NPR 50,000, which is almost six times as costlier than the rate under normal circumstances.
9. On the 18th of July, the NEPSE index increased to 2980.61 points, a 3.37% increase, while the total market capitalization stood at NPR 4.146 trillion.
10. The monthly minimum wage for private-sector employees has increased to NPR 15,000 from NPR 13,450, effective from the current fiscal year.