Roundup of Economic & Business News (Feb 1 - Feb 29)

Feb 1
Power cuts, diesel crunch clobber economy (ekantipur.com)
Govt seeking Rs 67.47b to bridge resource deficit (ekantipur.com)
Tourist arrivals up 12.9 pc (ekantipur.com)
NT share issue to fund development programs (ekantipur.com)
EC demands Rs 2 billion for polls (Nepalnews.com)

Feb 2
Nepalis lose Rs 1 billion worth cell phones a year! (ekantipur.com)
4 customs offices stay unmanned (ekantipur.com)
Banks strained as staff seek greener pastures (ekantipur.com)
Agro exports to Bangladesh going up (ekantipur.com)
Transporters call off strike as govt agrees to normalise fuel supply (Nepalnews.com)

Feb 3
Commodity prices skyrocket (ekantipur.com)
India to help solar electrification in SAARC villages (ekantipur.com)
House panel twists NT’s arms (ekantipur.com)
Negotiations begin for Arun III (ekantipur.com)
Strikes hit life in eastern districts (ekantipur.com)
Doha Bank seeks deeper involvement in Nepal (ekantipur.com)
Seized properties will be returned: Prachanda (Nepalnews.com)
Energy river runs 18 micro hydro power plants (ArthaExpress.com)

Feb 4
Rs 30b needed for post-conflict work (ekantipur.com)
Work on Outer Ring Road to start mid-July (ekantipur.com)
Kulekhani turbine repair after a month (ekantipur.com)
Economics of YCL upkeep Rs 1 billion a year needed (ekantipur.com)
Power crisis to worsen for next 5 yrs (ekantipur.com)
400 factories not to pay NEA demand charges (ekantipur.com)
Domestic footwear industry on a sprint (ArthaExpress.com)

Feb 5
KFM reaches 16.9 million listeners (ekantipur.com)
Governance, accountability very weak in Nepal: Report (ekantipur.com)
Fuel crisis affects valley schools (Nepalnews.com)
NT plans big customer base hike (ArthaExpress.com)
Stock market loses Rs 14b (ArthaExpress.com)
Kulekhani Hydel Project Stops Operation (ArthaExpress.com)

Feb 6
Maoists reactivate Peoples’ Council (ekantipur.com)
Petroleum supply from Sunday only (ekantipur.com)
South Asian bourses moot plan for cross-listing stocks (ekantipur.com)
HID load shedding rescheduled (ekantipur.com)
‘Foreign aid should be shown in budget’ (ekantipur.com)
CNI warns of one-third productivity loss to power cuts (ekantipur.com)
Industrial production down by 30 pc due to load shedding (Nepalnews.com)
UTL in throes of yet another crisis (ArthaExpress.com)

Feb 7
Enforce different water tariffs: Experts (ekantipur.com)
Govt makes another Rs 1b cash handout to NOC (ekantipur.com)
‘Farmers should go commercial’ (ekantipur.com)
Footwear Expo-2008 kicks off (ArthaExpress.com)
Foreign Aid Far From Adding Growth: Report (ArthaExpress.com)

Feb 8
ADB okays Rs 9b for Melamchi (eKantipur.com)
Sutlej certain to land Arun III (eKantipur.com)
Revenue collection up by 25.4 percent (eKantipur.com)
Hetauda industries report falling exports (eKantipur.com)
Govt pushes off-season maize production (eKantipur.com)

Feb 9
NAC doomed to closure? (eKantipur.com)
Businesses in Birgunj ruined (eKantipur.com)
Koshi highway blocked (eKantipur.com)
Power plant rusts while power cut takes its toll (eKantipur.com)
Smuggled Indian bricks trouble Nepali factories (eKantipur.com)


(Feb 10)
‘An open sky policy will attract more international airlines’ (eKantipur.com)
NEPSE loses 27 pts (Nepalnews.com)
NAC doomed to closure? (ArthaExpress.com)

Feb 11
Household food stocks down to half in 38 districts (eKantipur.com)
India positive on providing Nepal 40 MW (eKantipur.com)
Bad loans put Employees Provident Fund at risk (eKantipur.com)
Power bonds to be floated (Nepalnews.com)
Tourism in Nepal: From treks to sex (The Economist)
Experts: Nepal may face power shortage despite being rich in water resources (Xinhua)

Feb 12
Banks raise loan rates (eKantipur.com)
NPC advised to sack Lok Man Singh Kark (eKantipur.com)
Bumper harvest brings vegetable prices down (eKantipur.com)
NEPSE promotes 9 firms to class A (eKantipur.com)
Fuel crunch hits public transport (Nepalnews.com)
Leather goods expo ends (ArthaExpress.com)
Pharma Expo to focus on healthy living (ArthaExpress.com)
ITC Nepal Factory Lockout Lifted After Three Weeks (News Post India)

Feb 13
Banda paralyzes tarai areas (eKantipur.com)
Black marketeers, profiteers make merry while consumers panic (eKantipur.com)
Taxman promises to simplify paperwork (eKantipur.com)

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=137480NEPSE postpones broker recruitment eKantipur.com
Strike hits terai and eastern hills (Nepalnews.com)
Mobile phone tariff goes down (Nepalnews.com)
Weeks in queue for air ticket (ArthaExpress.com)
EBL registers 29 per cent growth in operating profit (ArthaExpress.com)
Banks offer small depositors negligible interest rates (ArthaExpress.com)
R&D facility sought for dairy industry (ArthaExpress.com)
Weeks in queue for air ticket (ArthaExpress.com)
Nepal's Exodus for Foreign Employment (NepalMonitor.com)
Nepal as a Transit State (TelegraphNepal.com)

Feb 14
NOC gives up on supply (ekantipur.com)
‘Foreign aid failed for lack of transparency, accountability’ (ekantipur.com)
Banda badly hits daily wage workers (ekantipur.com)
Govt considering tax cuts for microfinance (ekantipur.com)
Private firm to manage Kathmandu's water supply (Nepalnews.com)
HBC FM closed (Nepalnews.com)
Shortage of Cooking Gas Hits People Hard (ArthaExpress.com)

Feb 15
Army to escort supplies vehicles (ekantipur.com)
UK stops issuing visas in Ktm (ekantipur.com)
NAC pilots quitting en masse for bluer skies (ekantipur.com)
SEBON to allow portfolio managers (ekantipur.com)
Micro-finance effective to reduce poverty: Mahat (Gorkhapatra)
Special development plan in 15 VDCs launched (Gorkhapatra)
The grass is always greener (NepaliTimes)

Feb 16
Banda day four hits life hard (ekantipur.com)
2 petrol, 8 diesel tankers arrive Ktm (ekantipur.com)

Feb 17
Oslo seminar on Nepal’s hydropower (ekantipur.com)
Banda cripples east Nepal (ekantipur.com)
‘Nepal’s pharmaceutical market is worth Rs 10b’ (ekantipur.com)
Garbage woe returns, KMC points at fuel shortage (Nepalnews.com)

Feb 18
Fuel crisis shuts Valley schools Hospitals affected (ekantipur.com)
Food stocks down to week’s supply (ekantipur.com)
Unilever resumes operation (ekantipur.com)
Terai districts face shortage of foodstuff (Nepalnews.com)
Nepal government proposes special photo I -cards for Indian tourists (MSN)

Feb 19
25 tankers arrive at Amlekhgunj (ekantipur.com)
Kantipur Publications marks 15th anniversary (ekantipur.com)
NAC to pay Rs 235m for engine overhaul (ekantipur.com)
Indian fruits become dearer Vegetable supply and prices stable, for now (ekantipur.com)
Indefinite curfew in Biratnagar; Terai bandh enters day 7 (Nepalnews.com)

Feb 20
132 tankers of fuel imported (ekantipur.com)
Medicine prices vary in different regions (ekantipur.com)
Foreign job seeker needs to chip in with Rs 500 (ekantipur.com)

Feb 21
Donors pledge support for dev work (ekantipur.com)
Fuel trickles in, more to follow (ekantipur.com)
Over 1,200 police posts awaiting reconstruction (ekantipur.com)
Nepali private sector to build 100 MW project (ekantipur.com)
Nepalis rushing abroad to work in greater numbers (ekantipur.com)
Powdered milk factory and tea processing plants this year (ekantipur.com)

Feb 22
Show cause issued on Upper Karnali deal (ekantipur.com)
‘ADB working on solution to Melamchi problems’ (ekantipur.com)
NOC increases petroleum supply in the valley (Nepalnews.com)
Donors express commitment for more support (Nepalnews.com)

Feb 23
43 tankers of fuel enter capital (ekantipur.com)
Banda hits life in Morang hard (ekantipur.com)
Blacktopping of Karnali Highway to begin soon (ekantipur.com)
Fuel black market grips Sarlahi (ekantipur.com)

Feb 24
NOC fuel regulation from today (ekantipur.com)
Banda taking toll on industries (ekantipur.com)
Investment in housing industry has reached Rs 12b (ekantipur.com)
Supply committee decides to enforce odd-even rule to address fuel shortage (Nepalnews.com)
Economic turmoil to add to jobless (ArthaExpress.com)

Feb 25
King’s daughter to lose 160m worth shares (ekantipur.com)
NOC announces fuel distribution points for today (ekantipur.com)
Nabil receives intl' rating (ekantipur.com)
Hoteliers flay workers’ strike in Chitwan (ekantipur.com)

Feb 26
NT fails to receive enough applications (ekantipur.com)
Capital’s rice stocks running low (ekantipur.com)
Fuel crunch stalls hydro project construction (ekantipur.com)
Develop Devghat hydro: Locals (ekantipur.com)
2,993 KL of fuel enters Nepal Tuesday (ekantipur.com)
Strike grips Terai on 14th consecutive day; one killed in Nawalparasi (Nepalnews.com)

Feb 27
12 more TV channels in pipeline (ekantipur.com)
NOC increases oil imports (ekantipur.com)
All applicants to get NT shares at bid price (ekantipur.com)
Nepal's pashmina exports slipping (ekantipur.com)
Unrest forces industries to shut down (ekantipur.com)
Govt enforces Essential Services Act (Nepalnews.com)

Feb 28
NOC beefs up sales (ekantipur.com)
Power cuts down by 6 hrs a week (ekantipur.com)
WB-IFC for public-private model STR (ekantipur.com)
ADB/N shares oversubscribed 45 fold (ekantipur.com)

Feb 29
FDI commitment in Nepal doubles (ekantipur.com)
Normalcy returns in Terai, eastern hills still remain closed (Nepalnews.com)