Weekly Economic Update (22nd October 2021 to 28th October 2021)
3 min readOct 28, 2021
- The Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) has been launched by the government with the World Bank (WB) to help the labor market of Nepal. USD 60 million has been provided for this five-year program to provide more educational resources online, build academic institutions and increase collaborative research. [i]
- The Department of Transportation has begun the application for a driving license from 25th October after months of halt. New applicants will be examined under a new scoring system requiring an applicant to obtain 60 out of 100 in written test and 70 out of 100 for the trial phase. [ii]
- The government, as a part of the ‘Business Continuity Loan Disbursement Procedures 2020’, has extended its help to tourism and domestic industry workers by providing them a Rs 1 billion loan. [iii]
- Nepali Insurance companies’ collection premiums increased by 20.11% compared to last year. Insurance Premium amounting to Rs47.87 billion were collected, out of which premium worth Rs.38.18 billion of life insurance and Rs.9.69 billion premium collected from non-life insurance. [iv]
- Nepal Rastra Bank has unveiled that the first three months of FY 2021/22 has resulted in a significant trade deficit by 68.73 percent signalling growing concerns for the country’s foreign currency reserves. This has been triggered by the fall in remittance inflow, which has gone down by 6.3 percent. [v]
- The Department of Industry recorded 194 companies pledged investments amounting to Rs.146 billion in the first quarter of 2021–2022. Out of which 87 domestic companies have pledged investment of Rs.122 billion and foreign companies have pledged Rs.24 billion with a target to provide job opportunities to 7,195 people. [vi]
- According to the NRB report remittance has decreased by 6.3% to Rs.155.37 billion in the first two months of the current financial year. Even with an increase of workers for foreign employment which had decreased by 99.2% in the same period last year. [vii]
- The Tanahun Hydropower, a 140 MW transmission project, has successfully completed work on 27 foundations showing signs of rapid growth. Work on all three packages of the project has been accelerated with the team currently working on site construction and changing the course of the river. [viii]
- The gold prices, which had gone up by Rs. 200 per tola during the Dashain festivities, have now seen a Rs. 600 fall in their prices. Gold is now trading at Rs. 92,000 per tola. Silver has also seen a fall of Rs. 15 and is trading at Rs. 1250. These prices have been influenced by the transaction prices in the international market. [ix]
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has preliminary estimates that stated a loss of Rs.8.26 billion readies for harvest paddy over 85,580 hectares across the seven provinces. Lumbini province has suffered the highest loss worth Rs.4.51 billion. [x]
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[ii] https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/dotm-resumes-application-process-for-drivers-license
[v] https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/nepal-s-trade-deficit-widened-by-68-13-percent-in-q1/
[ix] https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/gold-price-down-by-rs-600-per-tola/
[x] https://kathmandupost.com/money/2021/10/24/october-rains-damage-record-rs8-26-billion-of-paddy-crop
