Notice (8): Trying to access array offset on value of type null [APP/View/Articles/view.ctp, line 115]
Notice (8): Trying to access array offset on value of type null [APP/View/Articles/view.ctp, line 115]
Notice (8): Trying to access array offset on value of type null [APP/View/Articles/view.ctp, line 116]

Weekly Roundup (9 - 15 September 2013)

  3 min 16 sec to read

  • The 12-point Birgunj Declaration that emerged from the Nepal Leadership Summit 2070 organised by New Business Age Pvt Ltd and Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries on September 4 in Birgunj continues to draw the attention of the government, political parties and the business fraternity. Terming the declaration as a benchmark for setting government policies, Finance Minister Shankar Koirala said the consensus reached during the programme among former prime ministers to make the economy a common agenda would help the government create an investment- friendly environment in the country if implemented.
 
  • Despite CPN-Maoist’s positive signal to join the poll process bringing a sigh of relief to the business community that has been reeling under political uncertainty, the bandh enforced by the party last Thursday caused significant loss in the economic sector. Factories were once again shut down, vehicles remained off the roads, businesses closed down and shops were shuttered.
 
  • The debt-ridden Nepal Oil Corporation’s decision to hike the price of petroleum products riled the student unions, airlines operators and the general public. The NOC decided to increase the price of petrol by Rs 5, kerosene by Rs 3 and aviation fuel by Rs 7 per litre. The NOC said it was compelled to hike the price following the price rise in the international market. The state-owned entity hiked the price for the second time after the formation of the Khil Raj Regmi-led government. The rise in price of petroleum products has once again initiated debates on automatic price fixation and the state’s monopoly in the trading of petroleum products.
 
  • The over-subscription for the reverse repo held by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) indicates that the banking system is sitting on a huge cash deposits. Estimates put this at Rs 60 billion, and it is feared that it pose a high risk of liquidity-induced inflation during the forthcoming festive seasons. According to the NRB, it has received the bid from BFIs worth Rs 42 billion last week for the reverse repo issued by NRB worth Rs 10 billion. The NRB had issued the reverse repo in the previous week worth Rs 5 billion for the first time in three years and received a bid worth Rs 30 billion at that time. Lax credit demand, a rising flow of remittance and low investment from investors stalled in a wait-and-watch mood are the reasons behind the excess liquidity in the banking system.
 
  • Data shows that the domestic currency that has witnessed rapid devaluation in comparison to the US dollar in the last few weeks became slightly stronger last week. The Nepali Rupee was traded at Rs 101.71 per US dollar last Saturday, while it was traded at Rs 104.20 per US dollar on the same day of the previous week. As the Nepali currency against the US dollar rose slightly, the price of gold became relatively cheaper last week.  The price of the precious yellow metal went down by Rs 3000 in a week trading at Rs 47,840 per 10 grams last Friday. The price on the same day of the previous week was Rs 50840 per 10 grams. Meanwhile, the government hiked the import duty of gold last Friday by 44 per cent. Duty price of the bullion has now reached Rs 5000 per 10 gram.
 
  • Data from the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) revealed that adulteration in edible products has reached an average of 20 per cent, thanks to the government’s apathy towards monitoring the market. Releasing the data, the Director General of the DFTQC rued the lack of strong laws to take stern action against adulterers. According to the department, adulteration ranging from 3 to 31 per cent of total content was found mostly in the bottled water, milk, oil and other consumable goods.

Deprecated (16384): Using key `action` is deprecated, use `url` directly instead. [CORE/Cake/View/Helper/FormHelper.php, line 383]
No comments yet. Be the first one to comment.