•China has agreed to provide Nepal with a grant and concessional loan assistance of Rs 6.67 billion to acquire six aircrafts.  Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi and ambassador of China to Nepal Wu Chuntai signed the agreement towards that end on behalf of the Nepali and Chinese governments, respectively, amid a function in the capital last Thursday. According to MoF, the concessional loan received from the Export-Import Bank of China will be handed to Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to use for aircraft. MoF said out of the total assistance, Rs 2,943 million will be used to acquire one MA60 and one Y12E aircraft on grant and up to Rs 3,728 million will be used to purchase one MA60 and three Y12E aircraft on loan. According to the tourism entrepreneurs, adding new aircraft to the existing fleet of the corporation would be important in catering the growing number of passengers thereby boosting the tourism industry.

 

•Stock market moved downwards after few weeks of gaining string as wary investors opted to book profits after recent gains. Nepse index fell 12.80 points last week to settle at 643.95. Though market observed a marginal correction last week, investors are upbeat about the market prospects due to the victory of ‘democratic parties’ in the CA polls. According to stock analysts, the overall market is in the rising trend and big boost can be expected in coming weeks as soon as the government formation process kicks off. The political environment has become a major factor for the rise of the Nepse index.

 

•The banking system has observed excessive liquidity after banking and financial institutions (BFIs) failed to boost the investment. According to the latest data, in last four months (between Sep 6-Nov 8), commercial banks have accumulated the total deposit amount has increased by Rs 42 billion, while the total loan investment has increased only by the half of the amount of the total deposit. The excessive liquidity has led Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to issue the Reverse Repo several times during the period of four months. NRB issued a latest round of reverse repo last week to absorb excess liquidity from the market. As many as 21 commercial banks have bid for securities worth Rs 23 billion for the reverse repo held by the NRB worth Rs 10 billion. This is the sixth times that NRB has issued the reverse repo in the current fiscal year. According to NRB, the reverse repos were held in a bid to ensure financial stability and good governance by curbing inflation in the market due to the excess liquidity.

 

•At a time when Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) was defending allegations against it on aviation safety and clear International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) about the present scenario of the domestic aviation industry, a probe committee formed to investigate the May 16 accident of Nepal Airlines Corporation aircraft in Jomsom has attributed to the pilot’s error as the factor behind the crash. “The most probable cause of the accident is inappropriate short take-off and landing procedure carried out by the pilot-in-command during the landing phase and an attempt to take off again without sufficient airspeed, lifting force and runway length to roll,” read the report released last week. Aviation specialists say that the air accidents or incidents are caused by the prevailing risk factors which could be eliminated if the associated hazards are identified and risks mitigated before they contribute to an accident or incident.

 

•The gold import has gone down to Rs 3.5 billion between mid-July and mid-October compared to Rs 7 billion worth of import a year ago, according to the data of  Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). However, the silver import has surged to Rs 2.6 billion from Rs 847 million over the period. Gold traders attribute to the low demand even during festivals like Teej for the decline in the precious yellow metal.