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The base rate of Nepali commercial banks declined in the third quarter of the current fiscal year as banks reduced their interest rates on deposits. The financial reports of commercial banks show the base rate has declined by 0.28 percentage points by mid-April, 2023. The average base rate of banks was 10.80 percent until mid-January which came down to 10.51 percent by mid-April. Banks started reducing interest rates on deposits in mid-January. As their cost of funds decreased, the base rate also decreased accordingly. Currently, the base rate is the main tool to determine bank interest rates on loans in Nepal. Banks have been determining the loan interest rate by adding a premium to the base rate. 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. With the base rate starting to decline, borrowers may get loans at cheaper interest rates in the coming days. However, the possibility of a significant reduction in borrowing rates is unlikely at the moment as the base rate has declined marginally. Bankers say the base rate will decrease further by mid-July which will make lending rates cheaper. Banks have been calculating the base rate on a quarterly basis and the last quarter of the current fiscal year starts from Baisakh. This way, the effect of the interest rate cut in Baisakh will be seen in Shrawan (July-August). Among the 21 commercial banks, the base rate of the two banks increased in the third quarter. The base rate of Nepal SBI Bank has increased by 0.33 percent and Machhapuchhre Bank by 0.08 percent compared to the second quarter. The base rate of Nepal SBI, which was 10.75 percent till mid-December reached 11.08 percent in mid-April. Similarly, the base rate of Machhapuchhre climbed to 11.31 percent in mid-April from 11.23 percent in mid-December. As of mid-April, the base rate of five banks has come down to single digits. Among them, Rastriya Banijya Bank's base rate stood at 8.47 percent, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal's at 9.27 percent, Nepal Bank's at 9.92 percent, Everest Bank's at 9.94 percent and Nabil Bank's at 9.99 percent. Currently, Sunrise Bank's base rate is the highest among commercial banks. The bank's base rate stood at 11.34 percent in mid-April. As the base rate is higher, the interest rates on loans of Sunrise Bank are higher than other banks. Over the past year, interest rates on deposits kept on increasing due to a prolonged liquidity crunch. As banks' cost of funds increased due to a surge in deposit interest rates, the base rate also increased during this period ultimately making loans expensive for borrowers. The banks will also have to reduce the spread rate to 4 percent by the end of Ashad (mid-July) which is currently 4.4 percent. The Nepal Rastra Bank has instructed the banks to lower the spread rate to 4.2 percent by the end of Chaitra (mid-April) and 4 percent by the end of Ashad. As a result, bankers say that the lending rate will decrease.

A child died after being hit by a school bus in Jhapa on Tuesday. The deceased has been identified as two-and-half-year old Chindal Subedi, daughter of Pawal Subedi of Kamal Rural Municipality-2, the District Police Office, Jhapa said. Police said that the bus (Me 1 Ka 407) belonging to the Nawadaya Secondary School hit her at Bhutlung in Kamal-2 at around 4 pm yesterday. Critically injured in the incident, Subedi breathed her last during the course of treatment at the Medimax Hospital in Gauradaha. Police said that they have impounded the bus and arrested its driver Durga Bahadur Kunwar (39) for investigation.  

The price of gold has increased by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 109, 700 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 109, 500 per tola on Monday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 109, 200 per tola. It was traded at Rs 109, 000. Similarly, the silver of silver has dropped by Rs 500 and is being traded at Rs 1,415 per tola today.

Janata Samajbadi Party Chairman Upendra Yadav has been elected as the member of the House of Representatives from Bara-2 on Wednesday. He defeated his closest contender Shiva Chandra Kushwaha of the Janamat Party by a margin of 5, 081 votes. Yadav secured 28, 415 votes while Kushwaha garnered 23, 334 votes. Similarly, Purushottam Paudel of the CPN-UML received 10, 216 votes and Ramesh Kharel of the Rastriya Swatantra Party obtained 2, 829 votes. Chief Election Officer Mukesh Upadhyay handed over the certificate to newly elected lawmaker Yadav at 1:45 am. Chief Minister Saroj Yadav and Chief District Officer Nawaraj Sapkota among others were present in the program. Yadav was defeated by CK Raut, Chairman of Janamat Party, in the Saptari-2 in the election to the Member of House of Representatives held on November 20, 2022. The HoR seat from Bara constituency 2 had fallen vacant after Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav of JSP was elected to the post of Vice President.  

Nepal Teen Leaders (NTL) has opened the form for its fifth batch. NTL is an exclusive student-centric year-long program designed for teenage students, aims to hone them into smart, talented, and creative individuals. The goal of the program is to ensure the students have bright futures. NTL, which was started in 2018, is an initiation of Career Point Education Services Pvt Ltd, an educational consultancy for higher studies. From choosing the right career to developing their personalities and improving their social skills, NTL focuses on many different aspects of career-building. Additionally, the program brings in experts from different fields under whose mentorship or guidance the students get to learn.To be eligible for the program, the candidates must have cleared grade 11 or equivalent level and should show an avid interest in working on pressing social issues.

Young folk singer Arjun Sapkota has released a new song titled ‘Bammai Jani Railaima’. Its official video was unveiled on the singer’s YouTube channel on Thursday. This folk-flavored song features singers Arjun and Shantishree Pariyar. The song is getting a good response from the audience with around 500,000 views as of Tuesday. The song is also gaining popularity on Tiktok. “The responses have also been very good. We are very happy,” said Sapkota. Lyricist Shiva Hamal has penned the song that has Sunil Pariyar as the arranger. The song has Kajish Shrestha as the choreographer and director, and features Divya Neupane, Badal Ghimire and Krishtal Sapkota along with Arjun. Ajay Regmi is the videographer whereas Deepak Bista has done the edits. Sapkota has popular numbers like ‘Banki Chari’, ‘Dui Duna Char’, ‘Pachayuri Lisio’ and ‘Ae Thuli’ to his credit.

Nepal reported 136 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 019 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 92 returned positive. Likewise, 572 people underwent antigen tests, of which 44 tested positive. The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours and 64 infected people recovered from the disease. As of today, there are 390 active cases in the country.

Six persons, who had returned to Nepal from neighboring India and third world countries, were found infected with malaria. District Health Office, Jhapa Chief Ramesh Barakoti said that two persons each from Mechinagar Municipality and Kachankawal Rural Municipality and one each from Buddhashanti Rural Municipality and Damak Municipality of Jhapa district were found infected with malaria. A 30-year-old man of Jaypur, Buddhshanti-2, who had returned from Uganda a few days ago, was diagnosed with malaria. He was found infected with malaria while carrying out a test at the Birtacity Hospital in Birtamod on April 20. He had left Nepal for Uganda on February 13, 2022 and returned home on April 5, 2023. Barakoti said that five persons, who had returned from Sudan, New Delhi, Telibhitta Bihar, Kisangunj Bihar and Mumbai, were also found infected with malaria. They are the residents of Mechinagar, Kachankawan and Damak. According to the World Health Organization, Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites. Infected female Anopheles called ‘malaria vectors’ carry these deadly parasites.