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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 2.80 points to close at 1,931.68 points on Sunday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 0. 26 points to close at 367.73 points. A total of 3,056,775-unit shares of 265 companies were traded for Rs 974 billion. Meanwhile, Adarsha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited and Molung Hydropower Company Limited are the top gainers today with their price surging by 9.99 percent. Likewise, Asian Hydropower Limited is the top loser with its price dropped by 7. 83 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 81 trillion.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 800 per tola in the domestic market Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 110, 000 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 110, 800 per tola on Thursday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 109, 500 per tola. It was traded at Rs 110, 250. The silver is being traded at Rs 1, 450.

2079 BS was a roller coaster year for the Nepali economy. Nepal grappled with an external sector crisis starting at the beginning of the year and the country is again facing another crisis in the form of a huge fiscal deficit as the year ends. The country's economy is passing through a difficult phase with the government struggling in revenue collection and resource management, growing discontent of businesspersons against banks and financial institutions, and rising bad loans in the financial sector. While the recovery of the country's external sector has provided some breathing space, declining imports and the slowdown in economic activities, falling demands, and economic activities have emerged as new concerns. The year also saw the deterioration in the relationship between Finance Minister and Nepal Rastra Bank Governor, the federal budget tampering episode, and the government issuing licenses to a certain sector in collusion with the private sector. The private sector's displeasure over high borrowing rates is yet to subside and the financial sector is facing a possible storm in the form of rising bad loans and difficulties in the recovery of debts. Over the past year, the non-performing loans (NPL) of BFIs have doubled. The recent data published by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows that NPLs of commercial banks stood at 2.49 percent compared to 1.18 percent in the last fiscal year. The lending of BFIs has remained dismal as industrialists and businesspersons held back their new investment plans. The country's economic growth in the first quarter has been limited to 0.8 percent. Over the past year, interest rates have been a subject of much debate and controversy with the business community blaming high borrowing as one of the main reasons for the current economic slowdown in the country. The high-interest rates, declining market demand, and slowdown in the stock market, realty sector, and construction sector have weakened the private sector's confidence. According to Rajendra Malla, President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, 2079 was a very difficult year for business community members. "In my 36 years in the business sector, I have not seen economic problems like in the past year," he said. Government treasury in deficit The import restrictions to avert the external sector crisis has hit the government hard. With revenue collection on a continuous decline, the mismatch between government expenditure and income has widened further. Data show the government treasury is in deficit by over Rs 200bn by mid-April 2023. According to the latest statistics of the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), the government's expenditure reached Rs 895.13bn by mid-April while the income totaled Rs 667.82bn. The government has been able to meet only 47.59 percent of the revenue target during the nine months of the current fiscal year while the total expenditure has reached 49.9 percent of the annual target. Amid rising recurrent expenditure, the government has failed to expedite capital expenditure. Rising inflation Throughout the year, the Nepali economy had to deal with high consumer prices. While the government had set a goal of keeping inflation below 7 percent this year, the rate rose to more than 8 percent. While official data show the inflation rate did not reach double digits, surveys conducted by private sector organizations and independent studies have reported that prices of many products and services went by as high as 25 percent. While the inflation in Falgun (mid-March) came down to 7.44 percent, it is still higher than that of the last year. The average inflation last year was 6.32 percent. The Russia-Ukraine conflict, disruption in the supply chain, and subsequent price rise in the commodities hit the economy hard. Liquidity crunch and high-interest rates Last year, the banking system went through a liquidity crunch, which was seen as the most severe in living memory, pushing the interest rates to double digits. With the acute shortage of investment-grade liquidity in the financial system, interest rates on both deposits and lending kept on rising. The average interest rate of commercial banks till mid-February was above 13 percent. In fact, interest rate in 2079 BS was the highest in the last one decade. Amid higher interest rates, banks struggled in lending in the last year. The demand for loans declined sharply as economic activities slowed dramatically. The extension of loans of banks and financial institutions stood at Rs 128.18bn compared to Rs 522.49bn in 2078 BS. As the cost of loans increased, there was a strong protest against the banks and financial institutions across the country. However, starting from Magh, banks gradually reduced interest rates on deposits with easing of the liquidity in the financial system. The high interest rate has increased the cost of funds for banks which resulted in a decline in their profits. Realty and construction sector in recession With BFIs tightening the realty lending, the real estate sector saw business coming to a new low. Realty entrepreneurs said there has been a decline of about 60 percent in real estate transactions in the first nine of the current fiscal year. The government restriction on land plotting due to the delay over the classification of lands also hit the realty sector hard. As the realty sector was in disarray, the construction sector along with the cement, steel and other construction material business slumped massively. The slowdown in new housing construction as well as sluggish capital expenditure of the government hit the production capacity of the country's steel and cement industries. According to National Statistics Office, the construction sector's growth has remained negative by 24 percent and the mining sector by 29 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Stock market on a downward spiral 2079 was a year of losses for the stock market investors. The investors lost more than Rs 612bn last year. With the central bank not keen to ease the provision on margin lending, the stock market went on a bearish run throughout the year. While there is strong pressure on the government to ease the margin lending policy, the central bank is still reluctant to ease the flow of money to the stock market. And, some silver linings Amid the difficulties, silver linings have also been seen in the dark clouds of uncertainty. The improvement in the country's external sector has continued in the eight months of the current fiscal year. The report by the central bank shows noticeable improvements in the country's forex reserves, the balance of payment (BOP), tourism income, and remittance inflow. The electricity export to India has given new optimism. Nepal exported electricity worth Rs 11.16bn to its southern neighbor in the last one year. With Nepal and India agreeing to more energy cooperation, the door for more power export has been opened.

Garbage management is one among many sectors of national life that is directly linked with the right to health, one of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. Without an iota of doubt, it is the duty of the state to safeguard this and other fundamental rights. Without a doubt, this right is for both the people living at the sources of waste as well as those living close to waste disposal sites. But this right, like other fundamental rights, has remained largely on paper. Waste collection and disposal coming to a halt has ceased to be news despite its serious impact on public health, especially at a time when the threat of coronavirus and other health risks are lurking. Imagine, for example, the situation in the Kathmandu Valley, which is home to millions of people and produces 1, 200 tons of waste daily—15-20 percent of it is recyclable—when waste collection and disposal comes to a halt. Avoiding such a situation requires increased coordination and cooperation between different tiers of the government, including the federal government, Kathmandu Metropolitan City and the local government, communities living close to the disposal sites, political parties as well as security apparatuses. Without a seamless coordination and cooperation, waste management is bound to come to a halt, much to the detriment of a large population. Forget seamlessness in this crucial task, even working coordination and cooperation between the federal government and the KMC seems to be a far cry as a recent, much-publicized spat between Mayor Balen Shah and Singhadurbar shows. Citing indifference on the part of Singhadurbar toward concerns regarding waste management, Mayor Shah has made it loud and clear that KMC will not collect garbage from nerve centers of the state, namely Singhadurbar and the Presidential Palace, unless the center addresses KMC’s concerns. Singha Durbar, on its part, has deemed Shah’s move as irresponsible and reminded him of KMC’s responsibility. This episode has once again shown that garbage management is a multi-lane way requiring all sides to work together for an obstruction-free traffic movement. Apart from concerns of people at the source, people living around disposal sites also have their concerns related to public health and the environment. Addressing conflicting concerns may not be easy, but there’s no shortcut to this problem. More often than not, political parties have faced charges of politicizing issues surrounding garbage management for petty gains. The onus is on them to mend ways and raise genuine concerns of the public. Waste management in urban centers like the valley will require short-term, medium-term and long-term plans. The policy of reducing, reusing and recycling non-degradable waste may help mitigate the problem apart from the promotion of greener alternatives. For now, the onus is on the feuding parties to sit together and prevent the conflict from aggravating further, in the larger interest of the public.

Takatoshi Nakamura, an engineer by profession, has been in the internet services business for over two decades. He currently is the CEO of Cipher-Core, Inc., a Japan-based company that provides information security services, end-to-end protection technology for communication systems and remote authentication technology for internet-of-things (IoT) systems, among others, to its clients across the globe. ApEx talked to Nakamura about the scope of internet business, new technology, security and how Nepal can benefit from it. Excerpts: What is information security? Information security is basically a process to secure information from various kinds of cyber threats such as information theft, fake information, pretending to be someone else, etc. Many technologies and online systems can be manipulated by hackers and engineers try to protect them considering all the loopholes. We have built a system that is secured at the topmost level. Our information security diagnosis software can secure both hardware and software. Why is it important? A lot of things are based on the internet. And, if the internet is not secured, your information is also not secured. And it doesn’t only matter for an individual, but for society, companies, governments and the entire world. In the world of finance, various kinds of automation and networking efforts have been made. However, due in part to inadequate information security technology, there have been huge losses in both internet banking and internet security. Furthermore, the development of quantum computers in recent years is accelerating further weakening information security. However, if perfect encryption, which has been developed in recent years by our company, is used, everything in finance will be safe. Remittances, payments and storage are no exception. How is the global scenario of information security? The powerful countries in this world actually determine the level of information security for ordinary people. They don’t want a higher level of security as it might turn into a security threat to them if terrorist groups start using higher information security. So, as of now, the scenario of this world is the same. All countries and people have almost the same level of information security. How is your company working to counter this situation? We want to break the syndicate and provide the topmost level of information security products to our clients. Many people and organizations have started inquiring about our products and I hope, sooner, we will be able to secure the internet and the information because globally, around USD 2 trillion is annually lost due to breaches of data. I have been inventing internet technologies since 2002. My inventions are ‘Prototype of encryption device’, ‘Encrypted communication remote I/O’, ‘Encrypted communication device (CP-S1)’, ‘Remote Monitoring System for Nagoya city’, and ‘4th generation PV (photovoltaics)’, among others. With all these experiences and experiments, I can guarantee that our company will provide the topmost information security. Can you please explain about your products? We have the ‘Cipher Security Information Security Diagnosis Business’ where we conduct an information security diagnosis for all businesses that handle confidential information, including financial institutions and auditing firms, and provide guidance and support for the implementation of countermeasures using the seven encryption-related products developed by our company. Our company is an IT support business, and we design and sell products as a subsidy application business. We also have the ‘Cipher Tunnel and Cipher Messenger Business’. Information exchange on the internet these days is extremely vulnerable in terms of information security, whether it is email, social networking services (SNS), or cloud storage, and is completely undisclosed to the business operators that provide these tools. This tool provides the ‘Cipher Tunnel’ software for confidential communication and remote authentication functions to all businesses that handle confidential information, such as finance and medical care, as software for users themselves to perform confidential communication and confidential messaging. Currently, we are working on the ‘Cipher Core Securities Platform’ where we are aiming to provide the software that issues and manages ‘digital securities’ with completely confidential storage, communication, and complete remote authentication functions. Real-time settlement of digital securities directly on the internet enables high-speed, high-turnover transactions and contributes to a high-density economy. How can Nepal benefit from information security? If your country has a secure internet, your national security will be in a better position. This will definitely help boost the investment environment in the country. And if your country uses our products, we will help develop your own application, product, technology and system. You can then sell those products to other countries, which will boost the national economy. Nepal will be a showcase for all the products with better internet infrastructures. It will also need a complete internet which should be strong enough and non-breakable. How will the internet connect the world as a global village? Since the opening of the internet for the private sector in the early 1990s, text, music, images and video have crossed all boundaries in an instant. The first stage of the internet has permeated every corner of the world as an ‘Information Service Platform’. Human activity is not limited to information exchange. Business transactions on the internet have also exploded and have fundamentally changed conventional business practices. When we will be more safe and secure to communicate and share our things, it will automatically help to form a global village with shared values.

Nepal reported 106 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 541 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 64 returned positive. Likewise, 947 people underwent antigen tests, of which 42 were tested positive. The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 74 infected people recovered from the disease. As of today, there are 435 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 29. 08 points to close at 1,934.47 points on Thursday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 29. 07 points to close at 1,934.47 points. A total of 4,913,702-unit shares of 270 companies were traded for Rs 1. 65 billion. Meanwhile, Adarsha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited, Kalinchowk Darshan Limited and Molung Hydropower Company Limited are the top gainers today with their price surging by 10.00 percent. Likewise, Siddharatha Investment Growth Scheme is the top loser with its price dropped by 5. 50 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 81 trillion.

Two years after it exited from Nepal, IHG Hotels & Resorts, the British multinational hospitality company, is again entering the country with a larger presence. This time, IHG has tied up with Shangri-La Hotel and Resort Group, one of Nepal's leading hospitality groups, with a management agreement to develop four new hotel properties in Nepal. Earlier, IHG was in a management partnership with the five-star Soaltee Hotel that ended in May 2021. The new hotels under the partnership with Shangri-La Group are InterContinental Kathmandu, Lazimpat, Hotel Indigo Pokhara, Gharipatan, InterContinental Resort Pokhara, Begnas Lake, and InterContinental Resort Chitwan, Meghauli. The agreement will see IHG adding close to 500 rooms to its portfolio in Nepal. Two of IHG's global brands, InterContinental and Hotel Indigo will also make their debut in the Nepali market. Currently under construction, the new hotels are scheduled to open in the next 1-4 years. According to Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South West Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, the strategic location of all four hotels in different key tourism destinations of Nepal provides IHG with a great opportunity to offer world-class hospitality. “We are delighted to introduce two of our leading brands from the luxury and lifestyle portfolio, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Hotel Indigo, to Nepal," said Jain. Prasidha B. Panday, Chairman of Shangri-La Hotel & Resort Group said that partnership with IHG to open four new hotels will help to offer world-class hospitality to guests at a time when travel to Nepal has increased exponentially. "All new hotels will be located in top tourism hubs, and we expect to benefit from the strength and scale of IHG’s global systems, technology, and a strong loyalty program,” said Panday. InterContinental Kathmandu Lazimpat will be redeveloped on the same site as Shangri-la Kathmandu Hotel, which is one of the iconic hotels of Nepal. The Hotel Indigo Pokhara is located in Pokhara’s Gharipatan area and features 100-rooms The InterContinental Pokhara Begnas Lake is an 80 rooms hotel. Similarly, the InterContinental Resort Chitwan is located in the popular tourist destination of Mehgauli. The resort will feature 80 rooms. Of late, the IHG Group is expanding its presence in Nepal. In March 2021, the group signed a management agreement with the Swornim Hotel Pokhara Pvt. Ltd. to develop the Holiday Inn Express Pokhara Lakeside.