According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Associations, the price of gold has increased by Rs 600 per tola (11.6638 grams) and reached Rs 165,000 in the domestic market today.

According to the Federation, hallmark gold was traded at Rs 164,400 per tola on Friday.

Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 95 per tola. Silver, which was traded at Rs 1,980 per tola on Friday, is being traded at Rs 2,075 today, the Federation said.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the price of hallmark gold has climbed by Rs 2,000 per tola (11.66 grams) today, reaching Rs 164,400. It was Rs 162,400 on Thursday.

Similarly, the Federation has fixed the price of silver at Rs 1,980 per tola. It has increased by Rs 30 per tola. The silver was traded at Rs 1,950 per tola on Thursday.

Gold price has been constantly on the rise in the international market, it is said. The Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Associations has fixed the price of fine gold at Rs 160 thousand and 700 per tola (11.66 grams) for today.

This is an increase of Rs 300 per tola on the price of the yellow metal on Wednesday. Gold was traded at Rs 160 thousand and 400 per tola on Wednesday.

The price of silver is stable. The price of silver on Wednesday was Rs 1,955 on Wednesday and it remains the same today.

“It’s time to harvest honey again. But farmers are worried because the previously harvested honey is not yet sold,” said Shiv Prasad Sharma Paudel, outgoing president of the Nepal Beekeepers Federation.

The government stopped the import of honey since last May making it easier for the beekeeping farmers, but farmers are likely to face problems as traders are working to get the ban lifted. “If the honey produced in Nepal does not meet the market demand then it can be imported. But it is necessary to impose 60 percent customs duty on honey imported from outside the country, ” Poudel said.

Meanwhile, with the help of the Prime Minister’s Agriculture Modernization Project, the honey produced in Chitwan has been branded to help boost the sales.

The honey produced by Paudel, a beekeeper farmer of Kalika municipality, has been branded and brought to the market.

Poudel said he has started selling the honey he produced by branding the honey and is sold in honey shops in Kalika-6 market of East Chitwan. Poudel produces six tons of honey annually. Since it has become difficult to sell honey, various efforts including its branding are being carried out to take advantage of the ban put by the government on honey imports at the moment. (RSS)

The yellow metal is trading at Rs 152,600 per tola (11.66 grams) today.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, on Friday, the last day of the week, fine gold was traded at Rs 149,600 per tola and the price soared by Rs 3,000 per tola on Sunday, the opening day of this week.

Similarly, the price of silver increased by Rs 50 per tola today and it is fixed at Rs 1,810. It was Rs 1,760 last Friday.

Through this partnership, NAS-IT and TJF will jointly organise programs and seminars on critical topics such as policy amendments, regulatory facilitations, and emerging technologies. NAS-IT will share knowledge about  Nepali IT sector to members of TJF, whereas TJF will leverage its media network to disseminate information about the IT sector to a wider audience.

 “This partnership marks a significant stride in our efforts to elevate Nepal’s IT industry. By combining our strengths, we can create a better informed and empowered IT ecosystem,” said Richan Shrestha, President of NAS-IT.

“We are excited to partner with NAS-IT to bridge the gap between the IT sector and the public. Together, we can drive Nepal’s digital ecosystem forward,” said  Umesh Poudel, President of TJF.

The partnership is expected to result in significant benefits for both the organisations and the IT sector as a whole.

NAS-IT is Nepal’s leading not-for-profit organization striving for the growth and development of Nepal’s software and IT industry. Through objectives like advocacy, innovation, market development, workforce empowerment, and collaboration, NAS-IT aims to elevate Nepal as a global tech hub.

The Tech Journos Forum (TJF) is a non-profit umbrella organisation of journalists covering Communication and Information Technology (ICT). The organisation seeks to improve the capacity of journalists covering technology and innovation.

According to the Federation of Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the price of hallmark gold has been fixed at Rs 150 thousand per tola (11.66 grams).

It was Rs 149,700 on Sunday. The price surged by Rs 300 per tola today as compared to Sunday. Before this, the gold price had reached Rs 149,800 per tola on July 17.

Similarly, the price of worked gold has increased by Rs 300 per tola. Worked gold was traded at Rs 149,200 on Sunday.

However, the price of silver has remained unchanged. Silver is being traded at Rs 1,785 per tola today, the Federation stated. (RSS)

Manufacturing, agriculture and forestry, energy, mineral, construction, service and information and technology industries are registered in the Cottage and Small Industries Office, Dang.

Santosh Kumar Subedi, chief of Cottage and Small Industries Office, said that the number of new registrations and the number of closures are the same.

He said that there has been an increase in agriculture and forest products based enterprises among the registered industries. Businessmen have said that the industry had to cut costs due to operational losses. During this period, 471 industries were closed.

During the review period, 596 firms were registered out of which 592 are private and four are partnership firms. One thousand four hundred and fifty seven firms have been renewed while two hundred and ninety-two firms have increased their capital.

Likewise, 513 industries have been added in one year. According to the Office, 548 people are engaged in new enterprises in the newly registered and renewed industries, while 1,562 people are employed.

One thousand one hundred and fifty-six industries have been renewed.

A total of 98 manufacturing industries have been added during this period.  Similarly, 231 agricultural and forestry industries have been added. Sixty-one firms have been added in the tourism industry. The number of service industries has reached 123 in the district. (RSS)

“The upper limit of the bank rate in the interest rate corridor has been maintained at 6.5 percent from 7 percent and the policy rate has been fixed at 5 percent from 5.5 percent,” said the NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari, while unveiling the Policy.

However, the deposit collection rate that remains as the lower limit of the interest rate corridor has been kept unchanged at 3 percent. The provision of providing permanent liquidity facility in the bank rate has been continued and the conditions for making the liquidity available shall be made flexible, the NRB stated.

Similarly, the existing provision related to the compulsory cash ratio and authorized liquidity ratio that the banks and financial institutions have to retain has been continued.

Making public the Monetary Policy for Fiscal Year 2024/25, Governor Adhikari said the monetary policy has been cautiously oriented towards flexibility in order to make the economy vibrant keeping in view the ease of price and the status of external sector.

Similarly, the policy has emphasized on improving the loan flow and the quality of loans towards the productive sector. A regulatory system has been formulated to maintain fiscal stability.

Policy eases managing capital fund stress

The Monetary Policy has brought some flexible provisions for managing the pressure on bank and financial institutions’ capital fund. For this, the NRB has adopted the policy of encouraging the use of capital fund instruments and new instruments.

The provision of existing 1.20 percent credit loss that has to be made on good loan has been reduced and maintained at 1.10 percent. Similarly, the NRB stated that the provision related to the risk weightage carried out on purchase and sale of borrowings shall be reviewed.

It is stated that the existing limit of the Regulatory Retail Portfolio (RRP) has been increased from Rs 20 million to maximum Rs 25 million.

Provision has been made in which the banks and financial institutions, while calculating the ‘tier-2 capital’, can calculate the appropriate ‘reserve amount’ in the regulatory reserve as tier-2 capital, remaining under the provision of the Capital Adequacy Framework-2015, in such manner that the total capital fund is not double that of the primary capital fund. (RSS)

The import of millet via Kakadbhitta checkpoint has increased compared to the last year.

Information Officer at Plant Quarantine Office, Kakadbhitta, Chandra Kishor Thakur, informed that Nepal imported 17,797 tonnes of millet from India in the last fiscal year, 2080/81.The import amounted Rs 854 million.

The millet import in the previous fiscal year, 2079/80 was however 16,035 metric tonnes which cost Rs 513 million.

As the cultivation of millet declined sharply in Nepal, its import from India and the third countries grew in recent years, Thakur added. 

Not only millet, even the vegetable import is in steady rise. Although huge amount of pumpkin is produced in the hilly districts of Nepal, the market is full of imported pumpkin.

In the last fiscal year, Nepal imported the pumpkin worth Rs 211 million. A total of 5,075 metric tonnes of pumpkin was brought in from India via Kakadbhitta border point.

The story of import does not cease with it. Last year, Nepal spent Rs 1.2 billion in importing 51,113 metric tonnes of tomato, while Rs 295 million in for 14,787 metric tonnes of green chilies.

Similarly, a total of 15,029 tonnes of okra was brought from India which cost over Rs 300.5 million.

Other regular agricultural products bought from India are onion, gourd, carrot, squash and yam.

Interestingly, even the buckwheat that can be produced from the southern plains to hilly and mountain regions of Nepal, is imported in a large quantity via this border.

Information Officer Thakur said over Rs 13 million was spent in importing 209 metric tonnes of buckwheat (phapar).

The livestock feed is another in list of entry. A total of 1,443 metric tonnes of cattle feed costing Rs 46 million was brought via Kakadbhitta border point in the last one year alone.  

The import of fruits and rice combined cost Rs 4.87 billion. Pulse (legume) is another essential import for Nepali cuisine.

Ironical to the deluge of imports, the farmers in the country have continuous worry over not getting market to their agricultural products. (RSS)

According to the Federation of Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, hallmark gold is being traded at Rs 147,500 per tola today against Rs 149,500 on Thursday.

Similarly, the price of worked gold has been fixed at Rs 146,800 per tola today. It was Rs 148,800 yesterday.

According to the Federation, the price of silver has decreased by Rs 30 per tola and reached Rs 1,830 today.

In today’s meeting of the parliamentary probe special committee formed regarding misuse of savings of depositors in financial cooperatives, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari shared that problems seen in cooperatives sector could be resolved by following the-five point suggestions.

Governor Adhikari suggested returning the savings of the depositors in three phases. He suggested that savings up to Rs 100,000 of the depositor could be returned in the first phase, while up to Rs 500,000 in second phase and more than Rs 500,000 in the third phase.

The NRB has forwarded a proposal to form a dedicated group to resolve problem as well as to move ahead following the measures adopted while addressing the problems of problematic banks.

He advised that necessary arrangement should be made on the issue of cooperatives that have functioned without restriction of geography.

 Similarly, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Information Bureau, Anil Chandra Adhikari suggested to make arrangement of integrated Information System at the Bureau.  Establishment of separate information bureau on the issues of insurance and cooperatives was suggested in the meeting.

Alerting about possible problems to be surfaced in other financial institutions like that of cooperatives, President of Nepal Bankers’ Association, Sunil KC laid emphasis on the need of resolving the problems soon.

Coordinator of erstwhile cooperative suggestion taskforce, Dr Jay Kanta Raut, explained that problem is increasing in the cooperatives sector for lack of implementation of the suggestions.

Most of the financial cooperatives are operating against cooperatives norms, values and principle are in problems, he added.

Experts laid emphasis on the need of establishing Credit Recovery Tribunal in the financial cooperatives sector.

On the occasion, Chairperson of the Special Committee Surya Bahadur Thapa said the Committee has not has started discussion on whether the government should pay the victim cooperatives’ depositors. Discussion was underway keeping it in mind that returning the savings of depositors was the main responsibility of cooperatives. 

Officers who had already worked as registrar of Cooperative Department after 2048 BS have been invited for tomorrow’s meeting.    Similarly, discussion would be held with the financial cooperatives’ victims in other meeting. (RSS)