Roundup of Nepali Economic and Business News for Mar 44-Mar 20 By NepaliEconomy.com
News Archive
Girija Prasad Koirala passed away on March 20, 2010 at the age of 86. His political legacy is quite clear but very controversial. His impact on economics of Nepal is not quite so. It is difficult to pinpoint what exactly he achieved in economic terms during 4 times (1991, 1998, 2000, 2006) he was the PM of Nepal. Here are the few I can cite.
• He is credited with introducing liberal economic policies during his first tenure as the PM. It is true that many of the landmark legislation were enacted during his first term. They include Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act of 1992, Industrial Enterprises Act, 1992, Foreign Investment and One Window Policy of 1992, and the Electricity Act of 1992.
• Some credit him for introducing VAT. I am not so sure. Yes Nepali Congress Party pushed for it throughout the early 1990s against the wishes of UML but it became effective on November 16, 1997 when Surya Bahadur Thapa (RPP) was the PM.
• On governance issue, he did a terrible job. Nepotism was rampant. The Lauda scandal still is a big blot on his legacy.
The bottom-line is that we do know his political philosophy (democracy) but his economic philosophy is muddled. He came from Nehru-Gandhi socialists tradition, so he was a socialist at heart, but with a twist, a big-business socialist. His main economic legacy is probably gross mis-governance during his tenure notwithstanding good intentions.
Ministry of Industry wants to establish Nepal Business Forum (NBF) where government, private sector, donors and civic societies interact to solve problems affecting economic development.
Nepal is taking China's offer on duty-free market access for 438 items. With bilateral trade totaling Rs. 36 billion and Nepal running deficit Rs. 32 billion deficit, such facility probably means very little. Nepal and Bhutan agreed on preferential trading arrangement; the bilateral trade is only about Rs. 300 million.
Nepalese going abroad for work has rebounded. In the first 7 sevens of 2009/10, it was up 9.8 percent, from 157,858 to 173,297 - that's 825 per day. Sony Electronics of Malaysia wants 2,000 Nepali workers including 1,000 women within 3 months and will pay salary ranging from Rs. 20,000-30,000 per month. Is this part of 100,000 Nepalese workers requested by Malaysia?
NEPSE has been on a downtrend since September 2008. May be the excessive supply of stocks have something to do with it.
Labor unions are running amok in Nepal. Protesting the appointment of two employees on contract basis, Employees’ Union of SEBON padlocked the chambers of the SEBON Chairman Surbir Poudel and its directors, bringing regular works to a standstill.
Foreign trekkers will face mandatory fees upto US$20 per tourist per trekking route to pay for insurance, rescue and infrastructure development.
Nepal Telecom is introducing pre-paid and post-paid 3G in Nepal. The cost of post-paid 3G is Rs. 300 per month. NT is the largest earner and taxpayer, and publicly traded company in the country. In 2008/09 it paid Rs. 12.24 billion in tax, royalty and dividends to Nepal Government. According to report, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) earns on per liter basis Rs. 1.85 from petrol, Rs. 9 from kerosene and Rs. 15 from aviation fuel. It loses Rs. 1.32 per liter on diesel and Rs. 168 per cyclinder of cooking gas.
BBC Nepali Service's Mr. Rabindra Mishra moderates a discussion on late Girija Prasad Koirala's (GPK) legacy with Himal South Asian Editor Mr. Kanak Mani Dixit (pro-GPK) and Rajdhani Dainik's Editor Mr. Yubaraj Ghimire (anti-GPK) on March 20, 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment