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After the government eased import restrictions, the country's imports increased for the second straight month. Nepal imported goods worth Rs 143.123 billion in Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April), the highest on a month-to-month basis, in the current fiscal year. The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), which resorted to strict import-cutting measures a year ago after foreign exchange reserves depleted drastically, is said to be watching the rise in imports closely as this growth can again derail the external sector of the economy. The country had imported goods worth Rs 139.22 billion in Falgun (mid-February to mid-March), an increase of 10 percent compared to Magh (mid-January to mid-February). Nepal had imported goods worth Rs 142.31 billion in Bhadra (mid-August-mid-September), the second highest on a month-to-month basis in FY 2022/23. However, the country's total imports in the first nine months of the current fiscal year are lower than the last fiscal year. According to the Department of Customs, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 1,201.508 billion in the current fiscal year compared to Rs 1,466.662 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year. The imports during the first nine months of this fiscal have declined by 18.08 percent. With the government imposing restrictions on luxury items and NRB introducing cash margin provisions on Letters of Credit issuance, the imports have declined till mid-February. The country's Balance of Payment (BoP) has remained positive by Rs 148.11 billion during the first eight months of the current fiscal year while foreign exchange reserves also increased by 15.2 percent to Rs1401.21 billion till mid-March, according to NRB data. Though these restrictive measures contributed to reducing imports and improving the country's external sector, they also resulted in a huge decline in government revenues which are heavily reliant on imports. The slowdown in revenue collection forced the government to lift import restrictions on the imports of vehicles, alcohol, and expensive mobile phones in mid-December, 2022. The central bank also removed the provision of cash margin in January this year. Along with the surge in imports, the amount of money going out of the country for education abroad has also increased significantly. A total of Rs 54.7 billion went out of the country in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, an increment of 80 percent. Central bank officials say they are observing the situation cautiously. "If the imports continue to surge, it would put pressure on the external sector," said Dr. Prakash Kumar Shrestha, Executive director of NRB. According to him, the source of foreign exchange income is not strong at the moment. "Currently, Nepal is receiving monthly remittances of around Rs 100 billion which is not enough to cover the imports." Monthly Import Bill

The voting has been suspended at a polling center in Chitwan-2. It has been learnt that the voting was suspended at the Naya Kiran Secondary School polling center in Bharatpur Metropolitan City 11. The voting had to be stopped as the leaders and cadres of rival political parties protested, saying supporters of Rastriya Swatantra Party's candidate Rabi Lamichhane chanted slogans as he turned to the polling booth. Voting was taking place at seven centers in this polling station. Discussion to resume the voting is underway, said Ishwori Acharya, Assistant Election Officer at the Office of the Chief Returning Officer. Representatives of various political parties have accused the Rastriya Swatantra Party candidate of violating the election code of conduct by carrying out sloganeering.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has stressed on the need of drafting a law for the registration of vehicles manufactured within the country. During his meeting with Chief Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi today, the Prime Minister asked him to prepare a law ensuring the registration of home-manufactured vehicles and adopt a policy for promoting the Nepali products. Prime Minister Dahal said that his attention has been drawn to media concerns over the absence of provision of registering motor vehicles manufactured within the country. Following the PM's direction, the Chief Secretary talked to Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Madhu Marasini and asked him to prepare a draft of the law regarding the registration and promotion of motor vehicles produced within the country and present it before the House.    

There has been a sharp rise in non-performing loans (NPLs) of commercial banks as they grapple with economic recession, the slowdown in loan recovery, and debt servicing. The unaudited financial reports of 21 commercial banks for the third quarter of the current fiscal year 2022/23 show their NPL has reached 3.03 percent, an increase of a whopping 148 percent compared to the same period of the last fiscal year. The NPL of the commercial banks stood at 1.21 percent as of mid-April, 2022. The banks have been dealing with growing bad loans in the current fiscal year. The NPL of commercial banks stood at 2.29 percent till the second quarter of this fiscal (mid-January 2023). The third quarter reports show NPL has further deteriorated in the last three months. Bankers attribute the rise in NPL to the slowing economic activities coupled with higher interest rates, and borrowers' inability to repay debts. According to them, loan recovery and debt servicing have become difficult of late. According to Sanima Bank CEO Nischal Raj Pandey, the rise in NPLs is basically due to the chain impacts of the economic downturn. "The cash flow in the market has been affected severely. In addition, the demand for goods and services has also declined dramatically," said Pandey. Besides, the government's inability to pay billions of rupees it owes to the contractors has added problems, according to Pandey. He says that borrowers related to the construction sector have not been able to repay their loans. "With the slowdown in the real estate and stock market, common people's investments have gotten trapped," said Pandey. With the sharp rise in NPLs, the loan loss provisions of banks have also increased. As per the unaudited financial reports for the third quarter of banks, the amount for provisioning has increased by 341 percent. Banks have set aside Rs 30.86 billion for loan loss provisions till mid-April 2023 compared to Rs 7 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year. The total provisioning amount of banks increased by Rs 23.86 billion in the last 12 months. Among the commercial banks, NPLs of three banks crossed 4 percent. Himalayan Bank has the highest NPL of 4.56 percent, followed by the Agricultural Development Bank with 4.35 percent, and Nepal Bank with 4.16 percent. Four banks have managed to keep their NPL below 1 percent. Nepal SBI Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal, NIC Asia Bank, and Everest Bank have less than 1 percent NPL. SBI's NPL stood at 0.97 percent, Standard Chartered’s at 0.90 percent, NIC Asia's at 0.85 percent, and Everest's at 0.70 percent. The rise in NPL levels and provisioning amount has hit the commercial banks' profit in the current fiscal year. The profit of banks surged by 11.68 percent to Rs 48.70 billion by the third quarter of this fiscal. The banks' profit stood at Rs 43.61 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year. Among the commercial banks, Nabil Bank posted the highest profit of Rs 5.11 billion in the third quarter of the current fiscal year. The Global IM Bank is at number two with a profit of Rs 4.35 billion followed by NIC Asia with Rs 4.01 billion. Banks' NPL

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 900 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 109, 300 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 110, 200 per tola on Friday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 108, 800 per tola. It was traded at Rs 109, 650. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,440 per tola today.

A leader of the Janata Samajbadi Party has been arrested from the Jabdi voting center in Devtal Rural Municipality-7,Bara on Sunday. A police team deployed to protect the ballot box apprehended Janata Samajbadi Party leader and District Coordination Committee member Ram Sagar Yadav this morning. Police said that they detained Yadav after he tried to cast two ballot papers having swastik stamp. He has been sent to the District Police Office, Bara. Meanwhile, the JSP leaders have tried to capture the booth at the voting center in Inaruwa of Mahagadhimai Municipality-2, Bara. Journalists have also been barred from entering the voting center.

A person died when a bus met with an accident at Jordhar in Tinau Rural Municipality-5 on Sunday. The bus (Lu 1 Kha 5956) was heading towards Gulmi from Palpa when the incident occurred. DSP Birendra Thapa, Information Officer at the District Police Office, Palpa, said that a body was found from the incident site. He said that 10 persons have been rescued and sent to the Lumbini Medical College for treatment. DSP Thapa said that police are searching for the injured persons. Police said that the bus fell some 100 meters down the road. Meanwhile, a person died and five others sustained critical injuries in a pick-up accident at Champetar in Phidim Municipality-11 of Panchthar district. The deceased has been identified as Sajan Kerung (28) of Luwafu, Phalelung-8. The pick-up (Me 1 Ja 2958) was en route to Phidim from Luwafu, Phalelung when the tragedy took place. The injured has been taken to the Panchthar Hospital for treatment.  

Voting started peacefully in Bara-2 on Sunday. The Election Commission said that the voting that started at 7 am will continue till 5 pm today. Bara-2 has remained vacant after Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav was elected to the post of Vice-President. The constituency has a total of 102, 548 eligible voters. There are 82 polling stations in the constituency. There are 67 sensitive voting centers out of 137 in the constituency. Upendra Yadav of Janata Samajbadi Party, Shiva Chandra Kushawaha of Janamat Party, Purushottam Paudel of CPN-UML, Ramesh Kharel of Rastriya Swatantra Party, Arun Gyawali of Aam Janata Party among others are in the fray. Among the 34 candidates in Bara, 24 have filed their nominations as independent candidates.