NRB intervenes in forex market

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KATHMANDU, Dec 21 – Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has secured 23.5 million US dollars from the forex market equivalent to Nepali Rupees 1.74 billion, Thursday, at a rate of 74.30 rupees per US dollar, informs Pramod Rijal, President of Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (FEDAN).

However, commercial banks’ fixed the market rate of US dollar at 74.65 rupees, Thursday. For last few days, importers had been demanding for more US dollars, in view of the increasing trend in the rate of dollar.

According to a source at NRB, the central bank was compelled to intervene in the forex market due to excess liquidity of dollars. It is said that the central bank intervened in the forex market on the request of FEDAN. FEDAN is an association of commercial banks who trade in dollars.

It is said that FEDAN had requested the central bank to intervene in the forex market amounting up to US dollar 23.5 million last Tuesday.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, President of FEDAN Rijal said, "The NRB was requested to buy dollars from the market, as its demand was on decline for the past few days." However, even after the intervention, the rate for foreign exchange remained unchanged, particularly due to the fixed Indian currency rate, he said.

According to a bank source, commercial banks can hold upto 15 million US dollars only. NRB statistics says, "The rate for increasing import figures is on the downward trend as compared to previous years." In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the import increased by 7.40 percent, which is mainly due to the negative import of gold, the source said.

The statistics show, the import of gold in the first quarter of the current fiscal year has dipped by 32.40 per cent and "there are more sellers than buyers of gold in the market", say gold traders. A high-ranking bank official says, "The drop in applications for Letter of Credits (LC) indicates decline in foreign trade." This could possibly be the reason for the low demand for gold in the markets.

NCC team meet German envoy

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KATHMAND, Dec 21 - A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) led by its president Rajesh Kaji Shrestha met Ruidiger G Lamp, German Ambassador to Nepal, and discussed various aspects related with improving bilateral trade relations.

According to a press release issued here today, during the discussion, Shrestha explained the various activities of NCC and expressed hope that the German mission would play a more active role in expanding German investment in Nepal.

Stating that Germany has been one of the most important market for Nepalese exportable goods, he urged for continued cooperation from the German government in organizing trade fairs and in exchanging trade-related information. He also requested for the resumption of Lufthansa’s flights to Kathmandu, stating that its absence has adversely affected Nepali tourism.

On the occasion, German Ambassador reiterated German support for economic and trade development in Nepal and said that such cooperation would be continued in days to come that help to expand trade and economic relations betsween the two countries.

CACCI stresses on e-commerce

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KATHMADNU, Dec 21 - The Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) has called on all business organizations of 20 countries gathered in Vietnam last week for the 18th CACCI Conference on Infrastructure for Sustainable Development to contribute for overall economic progress of the Asian economies.

According to a press statement issued by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) here today, the participating countries’ national chambers were implored at the function to play a catalytic role in promoting e-commerce and facilitate their respective governments in matters of legal and regulatory regimes, protecting the interest of consumers, among others.

The conference emphasised that greater use of e-commerce by business will deliver substantial benefits to enterprises; such as, wider access to information about different approaches to businesses, more efficient supply chain management and access to new markets, press release says.

The business sectors, in particular, were urged for the development of accessible and inter-operable communications infrastructure, identify problems and seek action to reduce regulatory barriers and help promote e-commerce for smaller firms, it said.

Participants at the function unanimously agreed to promote clean energy that can be a key component in the development of sustainable Asian economic growth. The programme participants expressed that most of the Asian countries in the region still depend on agriculture as the main source of income, employment and export earnings. Even so, industrialisation too is slowly making an inroad in the region.

CACCI meeting also explored the idea of forming a Regional Commercial Arbitration Centre, to handle the commercial disputes efficiently, involving businessmen from countries in the region and to co-operate with existing international arbitration and mediation facilities such as International Arbitration Centre.

Meanwhile, CACCI also announced the election of new officers for the term 2000-2002. Lee Song Young, Vice Chairman of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been proposed as the new CACCI president. Similarly representatives from different countries were proposed to the post of vice presidents and treasurer.

The two day long seminar was participated by representatives from Australia, Nepal, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.