Nepalse economy to be affected

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Sept 15: The Tuesday’s attacks on New York and Washington will have a great impact on the global economy which could drag the world into a recession from which according to economists, the economy of the developing and least developing nations (LDCs) including Nepal, India Bangladesh, China and Pakistan will be greatly affected. Though the US envoys here have assured to continue their support to the country like Nepal, industrialists particularly in garment, carpet and tourism fear that the ripples of the ghastly attacks on the USA will have a multiplier impact on the beleaguered Nepalese economy. The World Trade Center (WTC) was the center from where world’s forty per cent trade transactions used to take place. Its collapse has almost paralyzed the world trade at the moment and far reaching impact of this event will be great, say economists.

‘This incident will further intensify the cancellation of hotel bookings from American tourists, says Narendra Bajracharya, chairman of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN).

On the one hand the number of tourists are declining owing to unrest and domestic problems, on the other the terrorist attacks on the USA have created problems in the international tourism industry. And Nepal cannot be exception to this, says Bajracharya. After the incident took place, according to him 500-1000 American tourists have already cancelled hotel bookings. Following the incident American government has already alerted its citizen not to visit abroad taking the safety of its citizen into consideration. A total of 17401 American tourists had visited Nepal from January to August this year.

Total export volume to the USA in the fiscal year 2056-57 was equivalent to Rs 13.677 billion and major items of the exports were garment, carpet and handicrafts. Similarly number of American tourists coming to Nepal each year is also significant.

Chandi Dhakal, third vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) fears that the impact of the incident on the world economy will be great. The situation of the ailing garment, carpet and tourism industry will be worse, he said. Major export items to America are garments, carpets pashmina shawl. Nepal had exported goods amounting to Rs.1.4399 billion in the last fiscal year alone. After Germany, the USA is the second biggest importer of handicrafts. The demand for Nepalese products is on the rise, says K.K Tamrakar, chairman of the Handicraft Association Nepal.

Out of total handicraft export nearly 14.27 per cent goes to the USA in the last fiscal year, he says adding that the demand has increased by almost 70 per cent each year. A total of Rs 1.3868 billion of handicraft were exported to the USA in the fiscal year 2056-57, according to him.

Regarding the impact of the incident Rajesh Kazi Shrestha, chairman of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce says ‘it will be tremendous.’’

Are in a position to grapple with this problem? A senior official at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies in condition of anonymity said ‘ Obviously the incident will have greater impact on the global economy. But Nepal still does have such program for the crisis.’

Export of Handicraft goods to USA

Stock market sees further fall

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Sept. 15: The country’s stock market witnessed further fall during the last week (September 10 to September 14). The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index slipped by over 11 points as the investors remained hesitant to invest on the shares following the government’s recent decision to reduce land holding ceiling and the consequent demand by the RPP and Nepal Sadhbhavana Party lawmakers to put a ceiling on property too.

The Nepalese stock market has shown a bearish trend following the budget speech in mid-July with exceptions in between. It has been affected by the pressure in the money market owing to current political phenomenon and the government’s land reform decision. The NEPSE index that stood at 276.91 on Monday slipped to 265.22 by Friday. It had slipped by over 1.5 points during the previous week and nearly 14 points a week earlier.

Though there is no sign of improvement in the near future, financial experts believe that the transactions can go up if the government takes measures to promote the capital market by implementing favourable taxation laws.

During the reported week, shares of 32 companies out of the 54 enlisted ones were traded on the NEPSE floor. So far as the group-wise performance on the NEPSE trading floor is concerned, the index of commercial banking sector witnessed a considerable fall from 276.06 to 260.75.

The indices of other sectors either slipped or remained constant. The manufacturing sector index dropped from 314.85 to 304.16 and the index of the insurance and finance sector fell from 313.03 to 310.97 while the hotel sector index remained constant at 265.91. The index of the trading sector too remained constant at 110.44.

Commercial banks sector accounted for 79.85 per cent share in the total rupees’ volume of transaction on the floor in the reported week. Finance sector accounted for 13.95 per cent, hotel sector 2,68 per cent and trading sector 1.34 per cent.

Seen in terms of number of transactions, Nepal Merchant Banking and Finance Company Ltd. topped the list of companies with 119 buy and sell during the week.

But, in terms of the number of shares traded and the volume of transaction, Bank of Kathmandu was the leader. Altogether 10,891 shares of this company were traded during the reported week for Rs. 3.9 million.

The NEPSE floor remained open for five working days during the week. The shares of Nepal Merchant Bank and Finance Ltd., Bank of Kathmandu, Himalayan Bank Ltd., Everest Bank Ltd., Nepal Industrial and Commercial Bank were traded Monday through Friday.

Nepal likely to face economic crisis: Mahat

Kathmandu (RSS): Finance Minister Dr Ramsharan Mahat inagurating the Fourth National Council of Nepal Financial Institutions National Committee here today said the country could face a big economic crisis if all financial institutions do not work for the greater interest and security of their sector.

Stating that the government, management and employees unions are jointly responsible for the staggering state of financial institutions of the country, Dr Mahat emphasized the need for one and all involved in the sector to become responsible and transparent in their working in the greater interest of the financial institutions.

Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Tilak Rawal said the effort made by the government to improve the state of economic indicators for the development of the financial sector through economic liberalization has led to the progress of the country’s economy.

Deputy general manager of Agriculture Development Bank Madhav Prasad Upadhyaya blamed concerning management and employees union of spoiling the state of financial institutions.

The Association’s National Committee chairman Amritmani Poudyal presided.

Seminar on rice-wheat consortium

Birgunj (RSS): An obervation tour cum seminar of a group of agriculturists associated with rice-wheat consortium in indo-gangetic plains began from Ranighat, Parsa today.

Altogether 34 agriculturists from Nepal, India, Banglasesh and Pakistan are taking part in the seminar organised by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (cimmyte) in collaboration with National Agricultural Research Council (NARC).

The group made an on-the-spot observation of bed planting, drum seeder and paddy field using subsistence technique at Ranighat, Belwa and Parwanpur Agricultural Research Centre.

According to a survey, about 12 million hectares of land is used for paddy-wheat cropping in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The participants are scheduled to make an on-the-spot observation of the paddy fields in Bara, Parsa, Bhairahawa, Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.

The seminar has been organised to share experiences among the agriculturists of South Asia Region, Prof. Dr. Peter hobs told RSS.