Roundup of Nepali Economic and Business News for Jan 14-15The ongoing liquidity crisis in Nepal is the macro issue de jure but it seems to be getting very little attention from expert opinion makers. The few opinion I have read (Cash crunch, Liquidity crisis, Liquidity crunch or crisis?, Easing liquidity, Where has all the money gone?) do not make much sense. I was hoping someone from Nepal Rastra Bank with expertise on the issue and access to privileged data would provide sound reasons as to why Nepal is facing such a crisis but that has been a wishful thinking.
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is getting a new governor for 5 year-term to replace Mr. Bijaya Nath Bhattarai whose tenure ends at the end of the month. According to news reports, the short list includes former NRB Director Deependra Bahadur Chhetri, senior finance advisor of the finance minister Shree Ram Poudel and Deputy governor Bir Bikram Rayamajhi. NRB has other things on its plates lately. It handed back management of Nepal Bangladesh Bank to its new Board of Directors. NRB is entrusted to monitor self-regulated Employees Provident Fund(EPF) and to regulate Citizen's Investment Trust (CIT). Talking about EPF, it is taking advantage of the current liquidity crisis by demanding at least 13 percent for its deposits; and it does have lot of leverage given that it has Rs 28 billion deposit in various banks.
India and Nepal are holding 2 day meeting in Kathmandu at commerce secretary level on January 27th to resolve some of the bi-lateral trade issues. Nepal wants to (a) remove countervailing duties on Nepal's exports especially on garments (b) initiate accreditation process to eliminate ad hoc certification process, a non-tariff barrier. NepaliEconomy.com wishes the Nepali team all the best because in trade negotiations with India, Nepal aways seems to get the short end of the stick.
Nepal's government wants to improve profitability of state-owned enterprise (SOEs) by reducing political interference in their operations by bringing in strategic foreign investors. The success of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) provides a template on how it could be done. Currently three SOEs (Telecom (NT), Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) and Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse)) are seeking partners; Couple of days ago, Minister Mahato suggested similar initiatives for Salt Trading Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation; Janakpur Cigarette Factory (JCF) and Nepal Bank Limited might join the list. Bombay Stock Exchange has already shown interest in NEPSE.
Infrastructure development continues in Nepal albeit at a snail's pace. Indian government has initiated a study on East-West electric railway. 20km Kolati-Deurali-Chisapani road in Kavrepalanchowk has been completed.
An interesting take on the advertising industry in Nepal by Ms. Ang Sanu Lama. Her points are (a) Nepal charges maximum of NRs 50,000 to foreign channels to broadcast in Nepal compared to NRS 4 million charged by India, and this discourages foreign channels from advertising and promoting Nepali products (b) Rs 25 million goes out of the country as subscription fees for foreign channels.
The tech expo in Nepal is drawing huge crowds, about 60,000 on the first day. While not as big as the International Consumer Electronics Show, it is a respectable performance for country like Nepal.
No comments:
Post a Comment