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A 4.3 magnitude earthquake hit Bajura district at 5:15 am on Thursday. The National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, Lainchaur, Kathmandu said that the epicenter of the quake was Bichhya in Bajura district. Earlier, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake had jolted Bajura district on May 6. The mountainous and hilly areas of Nepal are considered to be prone to earthquakes.

The Kathmandu District Court on Wednesday ordered the police to keep former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand in custody for four days and proceed with their investigation. Laxman Upadhyay Ghimire, spokesperson at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, said that Khand has been remanded in police custody for four days. The former home minister was apprehended from his residence in Maijubahal, Chabahil on Wednesday in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugee scam. The District Police Range, Kathmandu grilled Khand for five hours.  

Nepali Congress lawmaker Arju Deuba filed a complaint with the Cyber Bureau to investigate the fake audio. She lodged the complaint demanding that the Bureau investigate the fake audio that linked her name to the fake Bhutanese refugee scam and take action against the culprits. Deuba claimed in the complaint that the audio was made public through social media to assassinate her character. Saying that the audio was recorded in a premeditated manner, she demanded that the guilty be booked at the earliest.

The businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic will no longer be able to continue getting various facilities to recover from the impacts of the pandemic with the government all set to bring the federal budget for the next fiscal year 2023/24 on May 29 (Jestha 15). In a commitment letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has said it will phase out the facilities that are in place for the last three years. “We will phase out the remaining Covid-19 relief measures including tax rebates to small taxpayers and businesses severely impacted by the pandemic,” states the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) sent to the IMF in early April. The government’s commitment is in line with IMF’s recommendation in which the global lender has suggested finding ways to increase revenue. There has been a massive drop in the government's revenue collection in the current fiscal year compared to the last fiscal year. The import control measures that were in place last year for eight months affected the import-based revenue regime. Similarly, the economic downturn and big decline in market demand have also severely impacted internal revenue collection making it difficult to manage its finances. “The remaining Covid-19 relief measures (mainly tax rebates to small taxpayers and businesses severely impacted by pandemic) should be removed in the fiscal year 2023/24 budget,” the IMF advised after its Article IV Consultation mission in February. In 2022, then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma announced a number of measures in the budget for the current fiscal year 2022/23 to support small businesses and the tourism sector hit hardest by the pandemic. “To provide relief to small businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, I have waived a 75 percent income tax to taxpayers with an annual turnover of up to Rs 3 million and a 50 percent income tax to a taxpayer with an annual turnover of between Rs 3 million and Rs. 10 million in the fiscal year 2021-22,” Sharma had announced while presenting the budget before the House of Representatives a year ago. Likewise, the budget for the current fiscal year has exempted a 50 percent tax on taxable income on tourism industry businesses such as hotels, travel, trekking, and cinema producers that were most affected by the pandemic. Likewise, annual license and renewal fees were waived for the fiscal year 2022/23 for businesses related to the tourism and hospitality sector. In the budget, the government continued concessional loans for the revival of the tourism sector. As businesses in several sectors are recovering fast from the impacts of the pandemic, the government is preparing to end the relief measures. According to the National Account Estimates for the current fiscal year released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) last week, the tourism sector has rebounded as tourist arrivals in the country are reaching pre-pandemic levels.NSO has estimated the country’s economy will grow by just 2.16 percent in the current fiscal year. But accommodation and food service activities related to tourism are expected to grow by 18.56 percent. The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has also stopped providing refinance facilities for businesses affected by Covid-19. The outstanding amount of refinancing provided by NRB remained at Rs 7.12 billion in mid-March 2023. The central bank approved a refinance facility of Rs 148.75 billion in FY 2020/21. As many as 48,890 businesses borrowed money from the package in that fiscal year, the NRB said. In FY 2021/22, the central bank approved a refinance facility of Rs 115.70 billion, benefiting as many as 24,305 borrowers. In line with the monetary policy that sought to limit the refinance amount, the outstanding amount of refinance has gone down. The monetary policy for the current fiscal year states the refinance facility will be continued, but will be limited to productive sectors including agriculture, small enterprises, and export-oriented businesses. “Such a facility will be gradually reduced to the amount available in the refinance fund by mid-July 2024,” reads the monetary policy.

South Korean Ambassador to Nepal Park Chong-Suk today paid a courtesy call on National Assembly (NA) Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina on Wednesday. During the meeting held at Singha Durbar-based office of NA Chair Timilsina, the two exchanged views on the bilateral relations and mutual interests, it has been learnt. On the occasion, the NA Chair thanked the Republic of Korea (RoK) for its investment in manufacturing of electronics in Nepal and extending the investment to the production of motors and to the establishment of other industries as well. He also thanked South Korea for providing job opportunities for many Nepalis through the EPS (Employment Permit System), urging for its initiations to operate the flights of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to South Korea. The NA Chair acknowledged the role of ambassador in further consolidating the bilateral ties. In response, the Korean Ambassador said that Korea's investment in Nepal could significantly increase if Nepal enabled the investment-friendly atmosphere here. Expressing his hope for exchanges of high-level visits between the two countries in the future, the ambassador expressed his gratitude to the NA Chair for his initiation to further strengthen the bilateral relations.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 2. 43 points to close at 1,841.93 points on Wednesday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 0. 45 points to close at 353. 80 points. A total of 1,942,626-unit shares of 265 companies were traded for Rs 589 billion. Meanwhile, Himal Dolakha Hydropower Company Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 8. 24 percent. Likewise, NCC Debenture was the top loser with its price dropping by 5. 44 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 7. 24 trillion.

Senior leaders of the three major political parties—Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli—held a meeting the at the prime minister’s office in Singha Durbar on Wednesday. During the meeting, they discussed the fake Bhutanese refugee scam. The trio held a discussion after police started arresting the leaders of the major political parties in the case of fake Bhutanese refugees. A source said that they also discussed the issues of transitional justice. The prime minister’s Secretariat said that they also discussed the ways to make the ongoing budget session of the Parliament effective.    

In what can be seen as a measure to offer some relief to the borrowers affected by the persistently high-interest rates, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has allowed the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to make changes to the lending rates on a monthly basis. Issuing a new circular on Monday, NRB said that BFIs can change interest rates on loans every month from now on abolishing the arrangement that required BFIs to change lending rates only once a quarter. While BFIs have been allowed to make changes in deposit interest rates every month, they had to wait till the end of the quarter regarding the lending rates. "While changing the interest rate of the loan, it should be changed monthly up to the limit of the increase or decrease in the average base rate of the last three months," reads the NRB circular. According to NRB, BFIs can change the loan interest rate for the month of Jestha (mid-May to mid-June), based on the change in the average base rate of the months of Falgun, Chaitra, and Baisakh. Bankers have said that lending rates will decrease from Jestha. Commercial banks have reduced the fixed deposit interest rate from 11 percent to 9.99 percent in Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May). The interest rate of institutional fixed deposits has also been reduced from 9 percent to 7.99 percent. Savings account interest rates have also been reduced. However, lending rates have remained unchanged due to the previous arrangement of NRB. With the central bank introducing a new provision, the deck has been cleared for the BFIs to change the loan interest rate from Jestha. Everest Bank CEO Sudesh Khaling said that banks would reduce the loan interest rates starting from mid-May. "We have already reduced the deposit interest rate in Baisakh but due to the obligation to calculate the base rate on a quarterly basis, we had to wait until July to reduce the lending rates," he said. "After the central bank came up with the new arrangement, lending rates will decrease from mid-May." When BFIs hike the interest rate on deposits, their cost of funds also increases, pushing the base rate to go up. Currently, the base rate is the main tool to determine the lending rate in Nepal. Banks have been determining the lending rate by adding a premium to the base rate. Banks started reducing interest rates on deposits in mid-January. As their cost of funds decreased, the base rate also decreased accordingly. According to the latest decision of the Nepal Bankers' Association, banks can determine the interest rate by adding a maximum of 5 percent premium to the base rate. Bankers say that the demand for loans has been subdued due to higher interest rates. With the base rate starting to decline, borrowers can get loans at cheaper interest rates in the coming days. According to Everest Bank CEO Khaling, the new provision will benefit customers more than the banks.