•The European Union (EU) imposed a blanket ban on all airlines from Nepal last Thursday from flying into the 28-nation bloc under the latest changes to its list of unsafe carriers. The European Commission updated for the 22nd time the European list of airlines subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the EU, better known as “the EU air safety list.”  “On the basis of safety information from various sources and a hearing both with Nepalis aviation authorities as well as with a number of Nepalese carriers, the Commission decided to put all airlines from Nepal on the EU air safety list,” the EU said. As a consequence of the ban on Nepalis carriers, they are prevented from flying into or within the Union. This ban is not only a major setback to Nepal’s tourism industry, but to the country as a whole. Although none of the Nepali carriers make flight to the 28-nation bloc, the consequences could be seen in the tourism and economy from the travel alert on European travellers to not use Nepali carriers.  

 

 

•Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference has concluded at Bali adopting a five-draft decision declaration and the 10-document full Bali Package that addresses the Doha Development Agenda. The last-minute deal would lower trade barriers and speed up the passage of goods through customs. Analysts estimate that over time it could boost the world economy by hundreds of billions of dollars and create more than 20 million jobs, mostly in developing countries. As a coordinator of the Consultative Group of the LDCs at the ongoing WTO conference in Bali, Indonesia, Nepal has raised its voice to demand a larger space in international trade for LDCs. Also, with the country itself facing barriers aplenty in international trade and a skyrocketing trade deficit, Nepal tried voice its concerns on existing multi-lateral and bilateral trade issues. Though developed countries have pledged Duty-Free-Quota-Free (DFQF) market access to 97 percent of the goods originating from LDCs as per Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in 2005, only around 80- 91 percent of the goods are enjoying such facility. Nepal has been getting this facility for 81 percent of its exports  to developed countires while some other African LDCs have been enjoying this for 91 percent of their total exports to developed countries under the DFQF. 

 

•The government has collected Rs 94.32 billion revenue in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The amount is Rs 140 million higher than the target. The government had collected Rs 78.3 billion revenue in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The collected revenue is 20.87 per cent higher compared to the amount of the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. 

 

•Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has begun buying an additional 30 MW of power from India in a bid to ease the chronic power shortage in the country during winter. The Power Trading Corporation of India has sold the power to Nepal at a rate of Rs.3.75 (NRs.6) per unit. The additional power import takes Nepal’s total import from India to 165 MW. Nepal has been requesting India to provide at least 250 MW to meet its increasing power deficit. The NEA is aiming to bring down load-shedding to 12 hours this winter by getting more power from India. Currently, there is a shortfall of 350 MW to meet the requirements as existing capacity is just around 700 MW.Measures are being taken to reduce power demand, including operating some multi-fuel plants and revamping existing power plants. Officials say Nepal pays around Rs.22 billion every year for procuring power from India, which includes importing inverters and diesel generators.