Rastra Bank to implement govt’s reform programme

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 26 - Dr Tilak Rawal, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has said the Central Bank would pursue the financial sector reform programme vigorously as per the government decision.

"We are committed to carry out financial sector reform as promised by the government," said Dr Rawal.

Governor Rawal said this today while addressing a programme organized to observe the 45th anniversary of the Bank.

Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya, during his earlier stint as the finance minister had opposed Dr Rawal’s appointment as the Governor saying that he preferred reform-minded professional. Amid ensuing differences over the appointment of the Governor with the then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Acharya had resigned from the post.

However, Acharya has remained tight-lipped on Dr Rawal’s case after his reappointment as the finance minister.

On the occasion, Governor Rawal said the economy was heading forward satisfactorily and macroeonomic fundamentals were sound.

"In order to prop up the productive activities by reducing the cost of fund for the investors we reduced the bank rates (interest charged by central bank on refinancing loans) this month," said Rawal.

If this step fails to pull down the interest rates of the commercial banks, we will opt for further loose monetary policy, said Dr Rawal.

However, Dr Rawal strongly maintained that the central bank’s signal to the commercial banks for reduction in the lending rates should not pull down the already low interest rates offerred on the deposits.

Addressing the programme earlier, Kul Shekhar Sharma, former Governor of the Bank and chief guest of the programme said that the prevailing low interest rates on deposit and high interest rates on lending was not a healthy situation for economy. "It would only discourage saving and hit lending in the long run," said Sharma.

Former Governors Satyendra Pyara Shrestha, Ganesh Bahadur Thapa and Dr Hari Shankar Tripathi among others were also present on the occasion.

Nepal one of the users of largest brands of drugs

By Vijaya Babu Khatri

KATHMANDU, April 26 - It might be amazing but it is true. Nepal presently imports 11 thousand brands of medicine, which is one of the highest in terms of brands to population ratio in the world.

The avalanche of such medicines has made it difficult for the regulatory authority to control the quality of drugs thereby increasing the risk factor for patients.

The availability of drugs in Bangladesh, which has a population of more than 100 million, is 9 thousand and 5 hundred brands, 9 thousand and 3 hundred brands in Pakistan and 8 thousand and 4 hundred brands of medicine in Japan. These facts only suggest that Nepal is presently importing more than necessary brands of medicine only to render her regulatory mechanism weaker.

Department of Drugs Administration (DDA), the only authority controlling the quality of drugs, has a laboratory that can monitor the quality of only 1 thousand and 5 hundred brands of medicine annually. Taking undue advantage of the weakness of the lab, foreign drug manufacturers are ‘dumping’ the Nepalese market with a wide brand of substandard drugs.

"Import of wide variety of drugs has messed up the monitoring mechanism of drugs and has increased the use of ineffective medicines," says Pradeep Jung Pandey, Chairman of Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal (APPN).

In an attempt to streamline the brands of imported drugs, DDA issued a public notice a month ago banning the import of 186 drugs manufactures, which failed to produce Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO). This also hints at the scope for import of sub-standard drugs.

"Drugs not produced as per the GMP have low quality. And everyone should accept it. Such substandard medicines not only weakens immunity but also does not heal the patients," says Dr Sharad Wanta.

Due to the availability of various brands of drugs, the practice of consuming antibiotics even for common cold has been on the rise. This has seriously affected public health, says Dr Aruna Uprety. "But the government is indifferent to the gravity of the impact of such drugs on public health," laments Dr Uprety.

Nepal uses drugs worth Rs 5 billion in a year but 31 domestic drugs manufacturers produce over 12 hundred brands of medicine which meets 20 percent of the national demand. According to APPAN, Nepal produces more than half of highly necessary drugs, however.

Of the rest, Nepal imports 90 percent drugs from India and the rest from other countries. But Shankar Ghimire, Managing Director of Asian Pharmaceuticals says, "More than 80 percent of the necessary drugs can be produced in the country if the government provides facilities to the domestic manufacturers equal to the ones being given to the medicines of Indian companies."

Indian companies do not have to pay any tax while supplying drugs to Nepal while they have to pay 12 percent tax to their Central and State Governments if the medicines are sold there. Therefore, Indian companies prefer to sell their products in Nepal.

But Nepalese companies have to pay around 25 percent tax while importing raw materials and packaging materials. Yet Nepalese companies can produce drugs in lower cost but they do not sell in the market because of the high commission given to thc sellers by Indian companies. (They give even 110 percent commission to drug sellers while Nepalese companies give up to 20 percent.) Therefore, doctors also recommend Indian drugs and sellers too prefer to sell them.

Domestic manufacturers argue, since drugs of around 200 companies are enough for Nepal, government should revoke drugs import licence in a phasewise manner barring some highly necessary medicines.

First two decades of NRB Efforts to monetization of economy & dev of banking system

By Bhola Ram Shrestha

The Nepalese economy in the mid-fifties was characterized by virtual absence of infrastructure. Being predominantly an agricultural country , the exports consisted of primary products while the import items constituted mainly of daily necessities like cloth, kerosene, sugar, petrol, salt, medicines, machinery and consumer goods. Trade was mostly concentrated with India. There was a lack of entrepreneurs and technical knowhow. Since the transport and communication was underdeveloped, the national economy was not integrated. There were only a couple of large and medium-scale industries producing jute, match, sugar, cotton, rice, flour, oil, etc. There was no organized money market in the country. Due to lack of banking facilities, indigenous money lenders dominated the lending business. The Nepal Bank was the only commercial bank with 13 branches serving mostly in urban cities. Banking services thus were inadequate. Broadly, background of the Nepalese economy in those days as observed by the bank’s founder Governor, Hiamalaya Shumsher Rana is very relevant. According to him,

"The Nepalese economy was rather different then. No jet airplanes flew into Kathmandu. Bullock carts, horses and shank’s mare were the means of travel in most parts of the country. It was a must or in most cases more convenient to go via India to reach the southern parts of the country in the East or West from Kathmandu. Barter at periodic fairs was a significant feature of internal trade. Almost all imports were from India. Exports of goods were almost exclusively to India and comprised timber and agricultural products."

"Only one commercial/industrial bank served Kathmandu and some districts. Other than Indian rupees, foreign exchange or US dollar was scarce as diamond. Nepalese coins were issued by the mint and currency notes by Mulukikhana (government treasury). There was no requirement of gold or foreign exchange reserves for issuance of currency notes.

"The Nepalese economy was not one whole due to lack of connecting roads/bridges and prevalence of the dual currency system. The economy of different vertical parts of the country tended to be closely linked to contiguous markets in India." (Excerpts from ‘Reminiscences’ by Himalaya Shumsher J B Rana).

The dual currency system and the free circulation of Indian currency prevailed in these days threatened the economic stability of the country. Moreover, the Indian currency was very much in circulation. Even government and banking transactions took place in Indian currency. The wide circulation of the Indian currency was attributed to the total concentration of trade with India as well as the open border with the country. There was a no authority to issue licence or authorization for conducting foreign exchange transaction, nor there was any restriction as to the sale or purchase of Indian currency. In other words, there was no foreign exchange control. One the other hand, the frequent fluctuation in the exchange rate between the Indian currency and the Nepalese currency encouraged speculative business activities. It was very difficult to estimate the total money supply since there was no record of the volume of Indian currency circulating in the country. Nearly half of the Nepalese currency in circulation consisted of coins. This obviously caused much inconvenience and difficulty to banks, government offices and business firms while transacting in cash.

From the prevailing economic scenario of the country as mentioned above, it was evident that there a lot of reforms were to be made in the economic and banking sector. Moreover, there was an urgent need to enforce the Nepalese currency as the legal tender of the country and to stabilize the exchange rate between he Nepalese Rupees and the Indian Rupees. In the wake of having these challenges, the Nepal Rastra Bank was established as the country’s central bank on April 26. The broad objectives of Nepal Rastra Bank have been clearly spelt out in the preamble of the Bank’s charter as:

To regulate issue of currency, securing countrywide circulation of the Nepalese rupees, and achieving stability in the exchange rate; to mobilize capital for economic development and for stimulation of trade and industries; and to develop banking system in the country.

The significance of NRB can be evidenced by the expression in the inaugural address by Late King Mahendra on the occasion of the Bank’s inauguration, quoted as follows:

"The establishment of this bank will, by the proper management of our currency, promote the growth of banking, industry and commerce and rejuvinate the economic life of the country."

As indicated earlier, it is obvious that the prevailing socio-economic conditions characterized by absence of a monetary authority, limited banking facilities, demonitised economy and non-existence of industrial concerns were the factors that led to the establishment of NRB . The establishment of the Bank also coincided with the country's First Five Year Plan (1956-61). Therefore, it also shouldered the responsibility of building infrastructure of development particularly in the financial front as envisaged by the Plan.

Honey and world food fairs

Exalted as the nectar of the gods, honey has been used over the years to pay taxes, keep tobacco moist, help cure hangovers, remedy colds, dress wounds, treat burns, and alleviate numerous other maladies.

Honey was the world’s primary sweetener until the nineteenth century when refined sugar became widely available. Today, in addition to being used on toast, in baking, and to sweeten tea, honey is used in a wide variety of breakfast cereals, cake mixes, processed meats, specialty breads, jams and jellies.

The growing concern of consumers about the healthfulness of the foods they are ingesting bodes well for honey’s future popularity. Because it is a "natural" product, honey is becoming the preferred sweetener in yogurt, home baking, food spreads, and even some snack foods.

Nepal is also one of the most prime places for bee keeping. Its environment is very suitable for apiculture. Many people have taken the business of bee farming, but are unable to find the right market. For the present scenario of global honey market, Nepal can do well only if many smaller firms join hands to meet the demand of foreign companies. But, they still have to learn much more about quality, packing etc. Here, we are providing lists of honey importers, exporters and farmers. The readers are expected to reap optimum benefits from the information.

Burlesons Honey

www.burlesons-honey.com

Tupelo honey

Telephone: 888-828-6418, 602-485-5872

FAX, 602-485-5872

Postal address, 3549 E. Crocus Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85032

Email: katie@tupelo-honey.com

Herbie’s Honey

16 Elmwood Terrace

West Caldwell, NJ 07006-7714

(973) 226-0547

Internet: www.herbieshoney.com

Email: herbie@herbieshoney.com

Bee Maid

Box 3909, 70 ALBERTA AVENUE, SPRUCE GROVE, ALBERTA T7X 3B1

PHONE: (780) 962-5573 FAX: (780) 962-1653 ORDER DESK: 1-800-213-6131

Castlemark Honey

Email: Mark@Castlemark-Honey.com

Phone (888) 335-6464

HoneyBee

Phone: 912-462-5068

FAX: 912 462-4078

Rt 1 Box 147 Nahunta, GA 31553

Email: honeybee@buffalocreekhoney.com

Apart from honey business, here is the list of some of the exhibitions of food market. Those who are interested to take part can visit the internet address http://www.fmi.org/meetings and get detail information about these trade fairs.

5/18 - 5/20 AgroMart 2000 Omni Saigon Hotel Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

5/21 - 5/24 2000 Financial Executive Conference Westin Canal Place New Orleans, LA

5/21 - 5/23 Loyalty Marketing: How to have a world-class loyalty program Rosemont Suites Hotel Chicago, IL

5/21 - 5/23 19th Annual FMI Legal Conference Amelia Island Plantation, Amelia Island, FL

6/11 - 6/15 2000 Managing the Total Store: Operations Course Kalamazoo, MI

6/15 - 6/16 2000 Category Management for Perishables Dallas, TX

6/19 - 6/20 2000 Public Affairs Assembly Renaissance Washington DC Hotel Washington, DC

6/25 - 6/27 2000 E-Business Summit Chicago Downtown Marriott Chicago, IL

6/25 - 6/27 FMI Food Protection Certification Program Instuctor Workshop Hampton Inn Downtown/French Quarter Area, New Orleans, LA

7/19 - 7/21 International Food Safety Congress 2000 Wyndham Palace Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista, FL

8/6 - 8/10 2000 Managing the Total Store: Leadership Course Monticello, MN

8/28 - 8/31 CRC & Expo Shanghai, Select From the List Below China Peoples Rep

9/10 - 9/12 Consumer Affairs Conference Marriott Marquis New York, NY

9/17 - 9/20 2000 Energy & Technical Services Conference Hyatt Regency La Jolla San Diego, CA

9/17 - 9/19 2000 Human Resources/Training & Development Conference Rancho Bernardo Inn San Diego, CA

10/8 - 10/10 2000 I/T Leadership Forum Hyatt Regency San Antonio, TX

10/8 - 10/11 2000 Internal Auditing Conference Hilton in the Walt Disney World Resort Orlando, FL

10/22 - 10/252000 Risk, Insurance and Safety Management Conference Renaissance Vinoy Resort

St. Petersburg, FL

11/12 - 11/15 2000 Retail Store Development Conference Rancho Bernardo Inn San Diego, CA

11/15 - 11/17 Retail Electronic Payment Systems Conference 2000 The W Hotel Atlanta, Atlanta, GA

2/25 - 3/2 2001 Today’s Managers: Tomorrow’s Leaders Skamania Lodge Stevenson, WA

3/1 - 3/1 2001 Distribution Conference Scottsdale, AZ

5/20 - 5/23 2001 Financial Executive Conference Orlando, FL

Everest Hotel marks 19th anniversary

KATHMANDU, April 26 (PR) - The Everest Hotel observed its nineteenth anniversary with a series of events beginning with a blood donation by volunteers and an award distribution ceremony for outstanding performance during the year, according to a press release issued by the hotel here today.

The prestigious chairman’s prizes, The MA Lari Awards, were distributed to outstanding members of the staff and while the traditional cake was cut, General Manager Anil Ghei addressed the gathering saying "The staff of a hotel are its backbone and represent all the important things of the hospitality industry such as service."