Global IME Bank to merge again

KATHMANDU, NEPAL Global IME Bank has geared up for another merger — this time with Gulmi Bikas Bank. The class ‘A’ bank signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gulmi Bikas Bank on Tuesday. Two weeks back, Global IME Bank and Social Development Bank had signed a MoU for their merger. Global IME Bank was formed last year following a merger between commercial bank — Global Bank — and two finance companies — IME Financial Institution and Lord Buddha Finance. After the completion of the current merger process, Social Development Bank...

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Banks increase interest rates on institutional deposits

KATHMANDU, NEPAL Interest rates on institutional deposits are continuing to go up as liquidity shortage triggered by government´s lower capital spending has compelled some commercial banks to quote higher prices to maintain regulatory credit to deposit ratio. However, some bankers say this is a short term phenomenon and rates will come down once the new financial year begins. As per information obtained by Republica, commercial banks are currently offering over 11 percent interest on institutional deposits -- money parked by companies...

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Minimum wage of Nepal is highest in South Asia

KATHMANDU, NEPAL The minimum wage in Nepal as agreed by the employers and trade unionists on Monday is the highest in South Asia. Though Nepal’s minimum wage was the highest in South Asia until two years ago, it had dropped to third after Sri Lanka and the state of Uttar Pradesh in India raised theirs above Nepal’s. The average minimum monthly salary of India at US$ 47 still was lower than that in Nepal. Entrepreneurs believe that the problem of scarcity of workers in Nepal will decrease after the salary hike. “Our minimum wage...

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MInimum Wage in Nepal increased to Rs.8,000 per month

KATHMANDU, NEPAL After one-and-a-half month-long negotiations, a tripartite committee consisting employers, trade unions and the government on Monday agreed to increase the minimum monthly salary of workers by Rs 1,800. After Monday’s agreement, workers’ basic monthly salary has been increased by 43.66 percent, dearness allowance by 9.44 percent and daily wage by 37.66 percent. “Overall, workers’ minimum monthly wages has been increased by 29 percent,” said Bishnu Rimal, president of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade...

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Nepali Business Delegation leave for Egypt to Boost Trade Ties

KATHMANDU, NEPAL To increase trade activities an 18-member business delegation led by the senior vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar has left for Cairo, Egypt. The three-day official visit arranged by Nepali embassy in Cairo will focus on increasing trade and bilateral relationships between Nepal and Egypt. The FNCCI team will meet representatives of Cairo Chamber of Commerce, on Monday, it said, adding that the team will also attend a programme to be organised...

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Massive increase in internet users in Nepal

KATHMANDU, NEPAL Nepal has achieved a 24.51 percent internet penetration, according to the latest figures released by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). Driven by a significant growth in GPRS, ADSL, CDMA, optical fibre and 3G internet services, the number of data subscribers has increased to 6.4 million as of mid-April from 4.6 million a year ago (as of mid-April 2012). According to the NTA, a majority of the internet subscribers are cell phone users who use GPRS — a mobile data service — in the GSM mobile network...

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Riddhi Siddhi Jewellers and Geetanjali cheating customers

KATHMANDU, NEPAL: Shree Riddhi Siddhi Jewellers at Bishal Bazar and Geetanjali Jewellers at Durbar Marg are found to be cheating customers through the use of weighing machines without certification from the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM). The irrigularities were found when a joint team from the Department of Commerce and Supply Management (DoCSM) and NBSM inspected three jewelry outlets in the New Road area and one at Durbar Marg, Tueday. ...

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Price of Gold drops Again

KATHMANDU, NEPAL: The price of gold once again dropped today to reach a year low of Rs 49,099 per tola (11.664 gram). On the first day of trading today, the domestic market witnessed a fall of Rs 651 per tola in gold price, according to Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association. On Friday, the precious yellow metal was traded at Rs 49,750 per tola in the domestic market. The gold price is fixed in the domestic market on the basis of international market price. “A drop of $20 per ounce today in the international market has pulled...

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Nepal's foreign reserves rises to over Rs.474 billion

KATHMANDU: The total foreign currency reserve has increased by 7.9 per cent to Rs 474.16 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). Earlier, the foreign currency reserve was Rs 439.46 billion during the same period of the fiscal year 2068/069. Of the total reserve, the NRB owns Rs 387.56 billion which is 3.2 percent more than of the last fiscal year. Likewise, the reserve of Indian currency reached 64.52 billion with an increase by 6.8 percent against the same period of the...

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Nepal's Inflation comes down to 9.5 percent

KATHMANDU, NEPAL Inflation moderated to 10-month low of 9.5 percent in April, as prices of non-food items and services rose at a slower pace in the month. Inflation last hovered at this level in May 2012. Consumer price hike eased on the back of deceleration in rise in prices of clothes, footwear, furniture and household equipment, the latest macroeconomic report of Nepal Rastra Bank shows. Slower hike in transport and health costs also helped inflation to ease in the month, the report states. ...

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NRB will notify promoters about CEOs who underperform

KATHMANDU, NEPAL  The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) will inform the board of directors concerned about the under-performing chief executive officers (CEO) of the banks and financial institutions. The central bank feels that the financial health of not just the banks and financial institutions but the whole country can be affected as the CEOs will always be involved in their private business and will only serve their personal interest no matter how well they are paid. NRB will inform the boards of under-performing banks and...

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Nepal's Money Exchangers Cheating Customers

KATHMANDU, NEPAL  Mahendra Thapa of Myagdi, who had returned back home from Malaysia, exchanged 1,600 ringgit at one Jayanti Money Changer in Mitranagar, Gongabu on Thursday. He should have got Rs 45,456 as per the exchange rate of Rs 28.41 per ringgit for the day, but he got just Rs 44,000 as the money exchanger gave him Rs 1,456 less at the rate of Rs 27.50 per ringgit. The money exchangers, that have got permission from the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), have been fleecing customers in lack of monitoring by the central...

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NRB has relaxed KYC provisions for small depositors

KATHMANDU,NEPAL  The Know Your Client (KYC) provision for banks and financial institutions has been relaxed for small depositors with bank accounts of up to Rs 500,000. The banks and financial institutions had been urging the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to think on the issue stating that it is creating problems in opening new accounts and updating the existing ones. But those with deposits of over Rs 500,000 will have to provide citizenship certificate number of three generations, profession, estimated annual income and other...

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14 firms bribe NEA officials to get 24-hr electricity

KATHMANDU, NEPAL: A government probe has concluded that 14 firms along the Itahari-Biratnagar industrial corridor saved energy bills worth at least Rs 50 million over the past three months ending mid-April by influencing officials of five distribution centers of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to provide them round the clock electricity even during load-shedding. The firms paid just Rs 6 for a unit of electricity. Power generated from generators would have cost them around Rs 25 per unit. ...

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Nepal's Commodity Market expected to remain Unregulated

KATHMANDU, NEPAL  The commodity market is unlikely to be regulated anytime soon as the Law Ministry has rejected the idea of controlling it by issuing a regulation. Speculative trading in commodity like precious and industrial metals, petroleum products and agricultural goods, among others, has been the major highlight of the commodity exchange. Prompted by reports of gullible investors being deceived in the unregulated market, the government has been working to monitor the sector through a regulation as there is no act...

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Canadian Investors now in Nepal and looking to Invest in Nepal

KATHMANDU, NEPAL  Big investors from Canada have showed interest toward Nepal at a time when foreigners are disenchanted by political uncertainty in Nepal. Foreign investors, who were staying away from Nepal following the dissolution of Constituent Assembly (CA), have started to arrive in Nepal even as the activities for fresh election gather momentum. A 14-member Canadian team including eight entrepreneurs and six high ranking representatives reached Nepal on Sunday. The team that is in Nepal on invitation of the Federation...

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Nepali Consumers paying more than stated price for Fizzy drinks

KATHMANDU, Nepal  Consumers have been forced to pay more despite the Bottlers Nepal advertizing that the retail price of a 250 ml bottle of Coca Cola, Fanta and Sprite has been reduced by Rs 5 to Rs 20. Consumers are forced to pay Rs 25-30 for a bottle of these cold drinks at different places. Neither the retailers have answers for this, nor has the company, or consumer rights groups for that matter, shown interest about it. Coca Cola SABCO, through Bottlers Nepal, had received rights for bottling the beverages of the...

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Jewellers claim 85 percent of Gold from Black Market

CHITWAN, Nepal Jewelers in Chitwan have audaciously declared that 85 percent of the gold comes through black marketing and challenged the state to investigate and take action if it can at a time when there have been widespread accusations of black marketing in bullion trade.  Organizing a press conference in Narayangadh they claimed that they are forced to buy gold from the black market due to the imposition of quota system in gold by the state. “The government is giving less gold imposing the quota system. It is natural...

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Happy Mother's Day 2070

Shankha Binayak Saving and Credit Cooperative family would like to wish all mothers a very Happy Mother's Day 2070 (Mata Tirtha Aunsi 2070). ...

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Trishuli River set to become a major hydropower site

NUWAKOT: Trishuli River is set to become a major hydropower corridor in the country in the next three years if implementation of all the projects goes smoothly. About a dozen hydropower projects are planned to be implemented along Trishuli River, between Rasuwagadhi of Rasuwa and Galchhi of Nuwakot, by the end of 2016. Upon completion, these projects are estimated to generate a total of 1,500 MW of electricity. Of them, Chilime, Trishuli and Debighat have...

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Commercial Banks in Nepal facing tighter liquidity situation

KATHMANDU- Although the banking system usually sees higher liquidity during the last quarter of the fiscal year, commercial banks are facing liquidity tightness in recent days. Generally, banks reduce lending, while deposit collection grows due to increased government spending in the last quarter of the fiscal year. But the government’s failure to expedite spending this year has resulted in liquidity tightness, according to bankers. As of mid-April, Rs 57 billion has been stuck in the government’s treasury, which is...

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Real Estate Expo in Kathmandu attracts huge crowd

KATHMANDU- Visitors thronged the NLHDA Kantipur Real Estate Expo at Bhrikuti Mandap on Friday, pulled by the promise of “unbelievable prices” for homes and apartments. Most of the companies which had half a dozen personnel at their stalls on day one were forced to assign more staff on Friday due to a surge in the number of visitors. “The number of interactive visitors has gone up massively this year. This is why all the stalls are packed with enthusiasts enquiring about real estate,” said Om Rajbhandary, coordinator of the...

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Rastriya Banijya Bank to hire young employees

KATHMANDU: Rastriya Banijya Bank is looking forward to hiring more young employees in order to transform the bank into a more competitive and modern structure. “At present, the average employee age of the bank is 49, and the bank is planning to bring new and young manpower that will bring down the average employee age to 37 within three years,” said CEO of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) Krishna Prasad Sharma during a training programme for the bank staff. “We have to emerge as a strong and modern bank in terms of technology, financial...

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Gold Price falls by Rs.800 per tola

KATHMANDU: Gold prices retreated by Rs 800 a tola (11.664 grams), today, after rising through the week in the domestic market. Its price was fixed at Rs 52,000 a tola, which stood at Rs 52,800 yesterday. In the international bullion market, gold fell to $1,455 per troy ounce after HSBC cut its gold forecast for the coming years. Moreover, the sudden cashing in on gold prices two weeks back has supposedly hit the safe haven appeal of the yellow metal and investors do not seem to be lured by gold at the moment. Likewise, profit booking by...

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Everest Bank slashes interest rate on Home Loans

KATHMANDU, MAY 03 - Everest Bank is providing home loans at a minimum interest rate of 10 percent to customers planning to buy homes at the NLHDA Kantipur Real Estate Expo which started in Kathmandu on Thursday. The Nepal Land and Housing Developers' Association (NLHDA) and Kantipur Publications are  the organisers of the event. The bank's usual interest rate for home loans is 10.5 percent. The bank said it would provide loans at 10 percent interest for up to five years, 10.5 percent from five to 10 years and 11 percent from...

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Merger not really a solution for all financial problems

KATHMANDU: Despite being touted as a miracle cure for all ailments troubling financial institutions, mergers have failed to improve the performance of almost a dozen financial institutions. Among the 12 sets of mergers completed in the domestic financial sector within the last two years, only four have so far succeeded in registering profits. Likewise, share prices of half of the listed merged entities are also below face value at Nepal Stock Exchange. “A merger does not translate to miraculous profits immediately. It takes time for the...

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