Weekly Economic Updates (23 July — 29 July 2021)
1. Around 52,000 metric tons of Urea fertilizer procured from Bangladesh under the government to government (G2G) model arrived in Nepal on 29 July 2021.[1]
2. Nepal Telecommunication Authority has endorsed a working guideline on the use of 5G mobile internet, paving the way for the telecom service providers to carry out test operation.[2]
3. The government appointed Dr. Biswo Poudel as Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC). He is an economist with specialization in natural resources economics, labor economics, and economic history, and holds a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.[3]
4. According to the Office of the Company Registrar, 32 companies converted into public companies from private limited companies in FY 2020/21 with the aim of issuing initial public offerings (IPO) or further public offerings (FPO).[4]
5. A tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed for loan investment in the 99.8 MW Tamakoshi-V Hydropower Project between Nepal Electricity Authority, Tamakoshi Hydropower Company, and Employees Provident Fund (EPF). The project is expected to cost NPR 16.19 billion, out of which 70% will be invested by the EPF as loan.[5]
6. Issuing a new directive on 26 July, Nepal Rastra Bank tightened the dividend distribution of ‘Class D’ financial institutions. Microfinance institutions can now distribute a maximum of 30% dividends to their shareholders.[6]
7. Nepal Rastra Bank has increased provisioning on good loans for banks and financial institutions (BFIs). The NRB on 26 July, issued a new directive, raising the provision for good loans to 1.3% from the previous 1%.[7]
8. Multinational company Surya Nepal has become the highest tax paying company of Nepal in the last fiscal year. Surya Nepal paid NPR 9.34 billion in taxes in FY 2020–21.[8]
9. According to the Department of the Customs, Nepal imported 3924.5 kgs of gold worth NPR 27.34 billion in FY 2020/21, compared to 2400 kgs of gold worth NPR 13.63 billion in FY 2019/20.[9]
10. The import of mobile phones increased by a whopping 103% in last fiscal year. According to data published by the Department of Customs, Nepal imported mobile phones worth NPR 36.90 billion in FY 2020/21, up from NPR 18.17 billion in FY 2019/20.[10]
Sources:
[1] https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/52-000-metric-tons-of-urea-arrives-from-bangladesh/
[2] https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/nta-endorses-working-guideline-to-allow-test-operation-of-5g-service-by-telecoms/?categoryId=81
[3] https://clickmandu.com/2021/07/163157.html
[4] https://english.onlinekhabar.com/these-32-companies-including-some-biggies-turned-themselves-into-public-companies-from-private-ones-last-year.html
[5] https://english.khabarhub.com/2021/26/199155/
[6] https://www.sharesansar.com/newsdetail/adding-to-restrictions-made-in-the-last-fiscal-year-central-bank-further-tightens-dividend-distribution-constraints-2021-07-26
[7] https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/nrb-raises-threshold-of-loan-loss-provision-for-bfis-on-credits-provided-during-pandemic/?categoryId=81
[8] https://bizmandu.com/content/20210726160339.html
