News Roundup: Prices of Basic Commodites Continue to Rise

Roundup of Nepali Economic and Business News for Jan 16-17

By NepaliEconomy.com

Sugar shortage is hitting confectionery factories along the Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor. To alleviate this problem, the government is buying 5,000 tons of sugar from private mills and selling them at Rs 80 per kg at government outlets. Brick Kiln Owners' Association are raising brick prices by 10 percent to Rs 10,500 per thousand bricks effective mid-January. Chicken prices are also rising, up 6% to Rs 250 per kg and so are sugar prices, up 100% to Rs 90 per kg last year.

Citizen Investment Trust (CIT) will invest Rs. 2 billion in the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Project (UTKHEP). Other investors in the Rs. 33 billion project include Employees' Provident Fund (Rs. 12 billion), Nepal Telecom (Rs. 6 billion) and Rastriya Beema Sansthan (Rs. 2 billion each).

Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) will implement Central Depository System (CDS) within 9 months with the help of Central Depository and Services Ltd (CDSL) of India and IRs 92 million grant assistance from India. CDS will automate stock transactions activities. Currently it takes 2 weeks (2 weeks?) to get share ownership transferred.

Chitawon Milk, a joint venture between state-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) and Chitawon Co-E, and the biggest powdered milk manufacturer in the country with capacity to process 150,000 litres of milk per day or 15 tons of milk powder will start production at the end January.

EU funded The Renewable Energy Project (REP) which plan to install 669 solar power systems to generate 800 KW of energy in 21 hilly districts at the cost of Rs 1.6 billion has been re-initiated after 3 year hiatus. The project is slated to be completed by February 2011.

"Return to Everest", a sequel to docu-drama "Everest" is made for IMAX 3D at the cost of US$10 million with Nepalese investors putting in US$4.5 million.

Another bureaucracy, Central Revenue Board (CRB) is in offing to consolidate and coordinate the the duties revenue collection. It seems ridiculous to add another layer of bureaucracy.