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The CPN (Unified Socialist) has decided to give a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. A Secretariat meeting held at the party office in Tinkune decided to give a vote of confidence to PM Dahal and sit in the ruling party’s bench in the Parliament. Party spokesperson Jagannath Khatiwada said that the party, however, has not made any decision to join the government yet. Prime Minister Dahal is scheduled to seek a vote of confidence on Monday. Similarly, the party has nominated General Secretary Beduram Bhusal as the Vice-Chairman and Ghanshyam Bhusal as the General Secretary, Khatiwada said. Bhusal, who was nominated as the General Secretary, had joined the CPN (Unified Socialist) recently.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party has decided to give a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. A joint meeting of the Parliamentary Party and Central Committee held in the party office in Basundhar on Sunday decided to continue its support extended to the government to take the issues raised by the party ahead, RSP central member Ramesh Prasain said. Though no decision has been made to join the government yet, the party said that the issues of people should be taken ahead by joining the government.      

A Parliamentary Party meeting of the Nepali Congress has decided to give a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Congress Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak said that the meeting has made a decision to give a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Dahal. Prior to the Parliamentary Party meeting, a Central Work Execution Committee of the party held this morning had decided to give a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Dahal and join the government. The Parliamentary Party meeting upheld the same decision. Similarly, the meeting has decided to join the Dahal-led government. With the decision to join the government, the Congress will sit in the ruling benches. The Central Work Execution Committee had also set four criteria as the basis for selecting ministers. Party spokesperson Dr Prakasharan Mahat said that competence, contribution, inclusiveness and regional balance will be considered as the basis for selecting ministers.  

Gold price hit a record high of Rs 110, 000 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the yellow metal has increased by Rs 2,900 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 107, 100 on Friday, the Association said. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 109,600 per tola today. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 35 per tola and is being traded at Rs 1,345 per tola.  

President of India Droupadi Murmu held a telephone conversation with her Nepali counterpart Ram Chandra Paudel on Friday. The President, who is currently on a tour to Kerala, called up President Paudel and congratulated him on assuming the office of the President of Nepal, read a statement issued today. Both Presidents noted the unique and multifaceted relations between India and Nepal. They also discussed ways to further advance bilateral cooperation and strengthen the strong bonds of friendship between the peoples of our two countries, the statement further read. The President expressed confidence that India-Nepal bilateral relations would reach even greater heights under the guidance of President Paudel.  

Ram Sahaya Yadav has been elected as the third Vice-President of Nepal. In the election held at the Lhotse Hall of Parliament building in New Baneshwor on Friday, Janata Samajbadi Party leader Yadav was elected as the Vice-President. He was elected as the Vice-President defeating Astha Laxmi Shakya of the CPN-UML and Mamata Jha of the Janata Samajbadi Party. Out of 52,628 weightage-based votes, Yadav secured 30, 328 votes while his closest contender Shakya garnered 16, 328 votes. Similarly, Jha obtained 2, 537 votes. Yadav was supported by ruling coalition parties—Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajbadi Party, Janamat Party and Rastriya Janamorcha Party. According to the Election Commission, out of 332 voters of federal Parliament and 550 voters of Province Assembly, 829 cast their votes. The weightage of a vote cast by a member of federal Parliament was equivalent to 79 whereas the weightage of a vote cast by a PA member was equivalent to 48. The Election Officer’s office said that 53 lawmakers were absent in the election. A total of 42 lawmakers of Rastriya Prajatantra Party and four of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party did not cast their votes. Two types of ballot papers were printed for the election. The ballot for the federal Parliament members was of red color while it was of green color for the Province Assembly members. The Vice-President shall be assigned to look after affairs in the absence of the President. The tenure of the Vice-President is five years. Parmananda Jha was elected as the first Vice-President of Nepal in 2008 while Nanda Bahadur Pun from the UCPN (Maoist) was elected as the second Vice- President of the country in November 2015. Who is Vice-President elect Ram Sahaya Yadav? Ram Sahaya Yadav was born on July 24, 1970. He started his political career from the Nepal Sadhbhawana Party. Yadav was elected as a member of the first Constituent Assembly in 2007. He became the General Secretary of the Federal Socialist Party formed after the unification of Madhesi Janadhikari Forum Nepal and Federal Socialist Party in 2015. Yadav, who was seriously injured during the Madhes Movement in 2015, was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Bara-2 in 2017. He also became the General Secretary of the Samajbadi Party formed after the unification of Federal Socialist Forum Nepal and Naya Shakti Party in 2018. Yadav, who was appointed as the Minister for Forest and Environment in 2021, was re-elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Bara-2 in 2022.      

At a time when the inflow of remittances has surged due to the increasing number of Nepalis going for foreign employment and a strong US dollar, remittance outflow from Nepal has declined marginally in the seven months of the current fiscal year. Data published by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) show remittance outflow has declined by 0.56 percent in the review period. According to NRB, foreigners working in Nepal have sent Rs 4.01bn through official channels in the seven months of FY 2022/23 compared to Rs 4.03bn during the same period of FY 2021/22. With more foreigners now coming to Nepal to work, the remittance outflow from the country has been increasing gradually in the past few years. Outward remittances in FY 2021/22 stood at Rs 7.67bn according to central bank data. NRB officials say remittance going out of the country is the money sent by foreigners who came to Nepal for work after obtaining a work permit. This number does not include Indians who do not require work permits to live and work in Nepal. As per the existing legal arrangements, foreign workers who come to work here are allowed to send 75 percent of their earnings to their home country and have to spend 25 percent of the money in Nepal. Foreign nationals are also working in multinational companies, hydropower projects, banks, and insurance companies operating in Nepal. The number of expats is high in companies with foreign direct investments, development assistance projects, and banks with foreign investments. Of late, there has been growth in the number of Chinese technical workers working in Nepal in hydropower and other infrastructure projects. The decline in outward remittance in FY 2022/23, according to NRB officials, might be due to the decline in the number of people coming to Nepal for work. "There is no study on this matter," said Prakash Kumar Shrestha, Executive Director of NRB, adding, "As of now, the size of outward remittance is not big and hence we've not prioritized and studied this aspect." NRB data show foreign nationals, except Indians, have sent around Rs 32bn in remittances to their country in the last five years. As per NRB, Rs 31.87bn were sent from FY 2017/18 to FY 2021/22. While there is an assumption that Nepalis working in India send huge sums of money back to their country, the reality is remittance outflow to India from Nepal is much higher than what Nepal receives from the southern neighbor. The World Bank data shows Indians working in Nepal remit home thrice the amount Nepalis remit from India. According to the World Bank's Bilateral Remittance Matrix, Nepal received remittances worth $1.02bn from India in 2017, whereas remittance outflows from Nepal to India stood at $3.01bn. According to the statistics of the Labor Department, there are currently 2, 316 foreign workers in Nepal. The citizens of 73 countries have come to Nepal for employment and received work permits to work in the country. The department says the majority of foreigners receiving work permits are Chinese. The Labor Department says currently, 1,635 Chinese citizens are working in Nepal. Similarly, 94 citizens from the UK have received work permits followed by 93 citizens from the US. Remittance Outflow from Nepal (First Seven Months)

The Federation of Contractors' Associations of Nepal (FCAN) has demanded the government to pay Rs 60bn immediately to the contractors. Making public the 27-point Kathmandu Declaration after its 24th Annual General Meeting, FCAN has said that the government is yet to make the payment of the works that have already been completed. Speaking on the occasion, FCAN President Rabi Singh said the government has not yet cleared the bills presented in the last fiscal year for the completed works. " Contractors are facing financial difficulties as they have not received payments for the works they've already accomplished," he said. He said that the contracts that the state cannot pay immediately should be terminated as per the law and should be taken forward only when the resources are arranged. According to Singh, contractors have not been able to process many contracts since the government has failed to provide the money. "The budgetary operation is currently in deficit. In this situation, it would be better to terminate the contract if the government is not in a position to make payments to the contractors," he said. FCAN is of the view that the government should issue a white paper if it is unable to make payments to the contractors. It has also demanded that the recent price increment should be adjusted in the contract amount. An agreement was reached between the federation and the government on May 26, 2022, to address the excessive and unexpected increase in the price of construction materials. "Based on that agreement, guidelines should be issued for the price adjustment," said FCAN. Similarly, the federation has requested to extend the deadline of the contract projects which are sick. According to FCAN, the works of the projects that are under construction have been affected due to elections, crusher shutdown, excessive royalty collected by the local level at various places, non-availability of project sites due to delay in compensation, payment issue, and liquidity problems, among others. Such projects' deadlines should be extended, said FCAN. Similarly, the federation also demanded that 20 percent of the mobilization advance should be compulsorily provided as stated in the Public Procurement Act. In addition, it has also demanded that the demands of the contractors should be fully addressed while amending the Public Procurement Act.