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Hard hit by slow revenue collection and rising expenditure, the government has resorted to cost-cutting measures to maintain fiscal prudence. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) decided to cut and freeze the funds allocated under various headings under the recurrent expenditure. As per Tuesday's decision, the MoF has frozen the remaining funds for the current fiscal year under 14 budgetary headings. The revenue administration has been struggling to meet the revenue target from the first months of the current fiscal year. The government failed to meet the revenue target in the first half of FY 2022/23. The overall revenue collection has decreased significantly in this fiscal compared to the last fiscal year which the government has seen as a wake-up call to initiate austerity measures. According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), the government's overall revenue collection (tax and non-tax) stood at Rs 475.609 billion in the first six and half months of FY 2022/23 compared to Rs 568.319 billion in the corresponding period of FY 2021/22. In the review period, the tax revenue collection totaled Rs 427.084 billion, a sharp drop from Rs 518.883 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year. Given the mismatch between revenue collection and expenditure, the Finance Ministry says it has become necessary to re-prioritize spending and manage resources for national pride and transformative projects and projects and programs that contribute significantly to job creation and economic growth. The ministry has decided to slash 20 percent of budget spending incurred in various headings of the approved budget of all ministries/agencies of the federal government, including fuel, maintenance, stationery and office assistance, newspapers, printing and publication of information, service, and consultancy. Likewise, the budget approved for information system and software operation, travel and other allowances, program cost, monitoring and evaluation cost, staff training, workshop and seminar, sundry expenses, machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures and structural improvement of the buildings would also be reduced by 20 percent. In the case of projects and programs that are included in the approved budget and programs for the current financial year, but the procurement process has not yet started (except for those projects and programs that have been given prior approval), the procurement process will be allowed only after obtaining approval/consent of the finance ministry. The ministry has also decided not to undertake any organization and management survey to create additional vacancies. All kinds of conferences, seminars, and workshops to be carried out from the government expenses have been postponed. It has also been decided that new furniture and vehicles will not be procured for the time being.  In the case of foreign trips at programs requiring compulsory participation of government representatives on public money, the ministries concerned should take approval from the finance ministry. Meanwhile, the ministry has decided to stop the execution of budgetary projects and programs which are yet to be started. With the implementation of these cost-cutting measures, the ministry expects a total of Rs 25 billion would be saved.

MentorLab, an emerging startup based in Kathmandu have entered into a strategic partnership with LeadSquared to offer comprehensive SaaS solutions to businesses looking to streamline their sales operations and improve efficiency. The partnership combines MentorLab’s expertise in sales and marketing for businesses in Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, with LeadSquared’s experience in lead and sales management, creating a powerful solution that addresses the sales automation needs of varied industries across the globe. The SaaS platform features lead capture, lead management, marketing automation, and sales management. It will be available to customers on a subscription-based model. LeadSquared’s cloud-based sales tech stack also includes solutions like customer portals, digital onboarding, and field force automation. The platform currently has 2000+ customers worldwide. LeadSquared aims to increase the productivity of sales reps by reducing the total time taken on manual sales and operational tasks. MentorLab is an emerging startup based in Kathmandu specializing in the sales and marketing of EdTech and innovative ICT solutions. Both companies are committed to providing outstanding customer service and support to ensure smooth implementation and successful adoption of the solution. “We are thrilled to be partnering with LeadSquared to offer this cutting-edge solution to our customers,” said MentorLab Chairman Bhanu Dabadi. “Their expertise in sales management complements our service, and we are confident that this partnership will result in a truly valuable product for businesses in the region.” “We are excited to be working with MentorLab to bring this comprehensive SaaS solution to this part of the market,” shared LeadSquared’s Co-founder & COO Prashant Singh. “Their reputation for quality and customer service is second to none, and we are confident that this partnership will be a success for both our companies and the customers we serve.”

The Indian government has increased its annual grant to Nepal for the fiscal year 2023/24 by 29.41 percent. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union budget for the fiscal year 2023/24 in the Indian parliament on Wednesday, in which Rs 8.8 billion (IRs 5.5 billion) has been allocated to Nepal as a grant. India had initially allocated Rs 12 billion (IRs 7.5 billion) to Nepal for FY 2022/23 but it was later reduced to Rs 6.8 billion (IRS 4.25 billion). The grant pledged by the Indian government for Nepal is the second-highest among South Asian countries. Like in past years, Bhutan stood at the top in terms of receiving Indian grants. According to grants and loans to foreign governments under the Finance Ministry expenditure profile for FY 2023/24, Bhutan has been allocated financial assistance of IRs 24 billion. In FY 2021/22, India had announced Rs 15.87 billion (IRs9.92 billion) during the budget presentation but it was later reduced to Rs 10.4 billion (IRs 6.5 billion). In FY 2019/20, Nepal received a Rs 19.16 billion (IRs 11.98 billion) grant from the southern neighbor, which was significantly reduced by 26.54 percent to Rs 14.08 billion (IRs 8.80 billion) in FY 2020/21. Sitharaman presented a USD 550.7 billion spending in the budget for the next fiscal year starting in April to boost India's economic growth. With the election in 2024, The Indian government through a new budget unveiled one of its biggest jumps in capital spending in the past decade. The capital spending increased to about USD 122.3 billion, which would be 3.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), in the next fiscal year. The Indian government has targeted to keep the budget deficit at 5.9 percent of GDP for FY 2023/24 compared to 6.4 percent for the current fiscal year. The economic growth of 6-6.8 percent has been targeted for FY 2023/24. The Indian government has raised the education budget to IRs 1.13 trillion from IRs 999 billion. Similarly, the health budget has been increased to IRs 889.5 billion while the allocation for the rural job guarantee program cut to IRs 600 billion from the existing IRs 894 billion. The defense budget has been increased to IRs 5.94 trillion from IRs 5.85 trillion. The Indian budget has allocated IRs 350 billion for the energy transition.

CPN-UML Chairman and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has claimed that the Rastriya Swatantra Party will get the Home Ministry. Speaking to journalists at the Biratnagar Airport on Thursday, Oli asserted that the agreement reached in the coalition should be implemented. He claimed that the Home Ministry will not be given to other parties other than the Rastriya Swatantra Party. Leader Oli made it clear that there has been an agreement between Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and himself on the issue. “It has been agreed to give the Home Ministry to the Rastriya Swatantra Party. But, it is up to the party to choose the minister,” he said, adding, “There is no need to wait for the full text of the Supreme Court for the decision pertaining to the Home Ministry.”  

The price of gold has increased by Rs 1, 200 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 107, 500 per tola today. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 107, 000 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 25 and is being traded at Rs 1,395 per tola today.

With the continuing bearish run of the country's stock market, the capital gains tax (CGT) from stock trading has fallen dramatically in the current fiscal year. The latest official statistics show CGT has declined by a whopping 84.68 percent in the first six months of FY 2022/23. The government has collected Rs 1.23 billion in CGT in the first half of the current fiscal year compared to Rs 8.06 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year. This year, Rs 491.5 million has been collected in CGT from long-term share trading and Rs 744.1 million from short-term share trading. During the same period in the last fiscal, Rs 2.22 billion was collected from long-term share trading and Rs 5.84 billion from short-term share trading. The CGT collection from trading of shares has taken a beating as the stock market has been in a bearish run for over the last one year. Stock investors are required to pay taxes to the government only after earning profit in the share trading. In the current fiscal year, the stock market has fallen significantly. As most of the investors have suffered losses in share trading, tax collection from stock trading also has declined. According to CDS & Clearing Limited (CDSC) Spokesperson Suresh Neupane, the revenue collection from the stock trading has decreased due to the decline in the NEPSE index and turnover. "Investors will pay tax only after earning profit. Investors made good profits when the stock market rose to an all-time high in earlier fiscal years. As a result, the revenue received by the government increased last year," he said. The government has been collecting up to 10 percent capital gains tax from the profits earned by investors in the secondary market. As per the existing arrangements, 10 percent CGT is levied on institutional investors in the securities market while it is 7.5 percent for individual investors. Among the individuals, the government collects tax by considering those who hold shares for more than 1 year as long-term investors and those who hold shares for less than 1 year as short-term investors. Short-term investors have to pay a 7.5 percent capital gains tax and long-term investors have to pay a 5 percent capital gains tax. The government had collected an all-time high CGT of Rs 14.06 billion from transactions of shares in FY 2020/21 when the domestic bourse was on a bull run. The amount was only Rs 1.01 billion in FY 2019/20. Secondary market transactions contributed a total of Rs 6.59 billion in tax revenue from FY 2015/16 to FY 2019/20.

With the risk of Nepal finding a place on the 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the government has decided to expedite the endorsement of amendment bills related to anti-money laundering (AML). Nepal is currently under pressure from FAFT and international lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to enact a number of laws to address the deficiencies to comply with the standards on AML and anti-terrorist financing. On Tuesday, a meeting of the National Review Council on Money Laundering decided to introduce the amendment bill through a fast-track process. According to the Finance Ministry press statement, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel said that the government planned to take the draft of the bill to the cabinet by Sunday and present the bill at the parliament in a fast-track manner. According to a government secretary, preparations are underway to prepare the draft of the bill to send the draft to the cabinet by Sunday. Though the amendment bill was presented at the erstwhile parliament, it was dissolved before it was endorsed. Later, the government sent an ordinance the President Bidya Devi Bhandari in November last year. But the President didn’t authenticate the ordinance on time, and following the elections of the House of Representatives, the ordinance could not be introduced. The government’s decision has come up at a time when the Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering has been conducting a mutual evaluation of Nepal’s compliance with the global standards on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT). Though the APG team concluded the field visit to Nepal in December last year based on which its report will be prepared, Nepali officials believe Nepal could give accommodate the progress made after their visits to Nepal before APG plenary meeting scheduled to be held in April. A government secretary said that the new bill would also include the amendment to the existing laws on casinos and cooperatives. Earlier, the ordinance submitted to the president had missed the provisions related to casinos. In February, the APG is expected to produce its preliminary report on which Nepal will give its opinion. A face-to-face interaction is expected in April before the APG prepares its final report, according to officials at Finance Ministry. The report will then go to the APG plenary, which will determine whether Nepal will be under the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) monitoring of the FATF. The ‘grey list’ is used to denote a group of countries/jurisdictions with “strategic deficiencies” in their regime to counter money laundering and terror financing. Once listed as ‘jurisdiction under increased monitoring’ by the FATF, they must develop an action plan within a specific period. A country on the grey list is not subject to sanctions. However, the grey list signals to the international banking system that there could be enhanced transactional risks from doing business with the said country. Nepal was on the FAFT's 'grey list' from 2008-2014. After a series of progress made on the AML/CFT regime that includes an amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2008, and the enactment of other laws, the FATF finally removed Nepal from the list in 2014.  

Police have arrested a Canadian national with 9 kg gold from the Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday. The Customs Department of the Airport detained Muhammad Kamal Mohagob (passport no. AAM 266548), who arrived in Kathmandu from Malaysia boarding a FlyDubai flight FZ-574 from Dubai, during a routine security check. TIA security police spokesperson Lal Mani Acharya said that the Canadian National was apprehended with 9. 135 kg gold He has been kept at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala for further investigation.