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Sudurpaschim Province Chief Minister Rajendra Singh Rawal failed to secure a vote of confidence in the National Assembly on Thursday. Majority of the lawmakers voted against the motion Rawal tabled in the National Assembly meeting today. After Rawal lost the trust motion, he has automatically been relieved of his post. He was appointed as the Chief Minister from the CPN-UML. Rawal failed to secure the vote of confidence after the lawmakers of the Nagarik Unmukti Party, which had extended support to the government, remained absent in the meeting. The Party has been saying that it would not give a vote of confidence until Resham Chaudhary is released.  

Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Parshuram Sharma and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song held a meeting on Thursday. During the meeting held at the Nepal Army headquarters in Bhadrakali, the duo discussed issues of mutual interest. “Issues related to bilateral relations and mutual interest were discussed in the meeting. This kind of meeting will help further strengthen the ties between the two countries,” read a statement issued by the Nepal Army today. According to a source, they also discussed conducting military drills between the Nepal Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.  

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 12.45 points to close at 2,182.63 points on Thursday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1.42 points to close at 415. 42 points. A total of 5,648,212 unit shares of 257 companies were traded for Rs 2. 06 billion. Meanwhile, Barahi Hydropower Company Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 14 trillion.

With the economic slowdown impacting the income of general people, the insured are increasingly resorting to surrendering life insurance policies in recent years. According to life insurance companies, of the total policies they've sold, nine percent have been surrendered. Currently, there are 18 life insurance companies operating in Nepal. The companies have collected a total of Rs 71.65 billion in insurance premiums in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2022/23. However, insurers have surrendered Rs 6.08 billion during this period. As per the statistics of the Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA), 43,715 insurance policies were surrendered in the last six months. Generally, people buy life insurance for a certain period to get covered for the period. As per existing arrangements, the insured can surrender the policy they bought before maturity and take back the amount they paid to the insurers as premiums. Now, the trend of surrendering the policy before the maturity period is increasing, according to insurance companies. People surrendering the policy are paid the premium and bonus amount up to the date of surrender in a lump sum. Last year, NIA changed the arrangements barring buyers of life insurance policies from surrendering before settling the premium payments for three years. In the new rule, insurers cannot issue general life insurance policies for less than five years of maturity. NIA data shows 63,331 policies worth Rs 9.88 billion were surrendered in FY 2020/21. While the authority introduced a new provision to control the cancellation of the policies in FY 2021/22, the same year saw the number of policies surrendered increasing to 81,860 amounting to Rs 12.18 billion. NIA officials estimate if the policy surrender increases at this rate, the number will go up further in the current fiscal year. Insurers say that policy surrenders are basically due to the ongoing economic slump which has hit the income of general people. According to them, high-interest rates, and rising inflation have hit the common people hard, affecting their purchasing power. In most cases, the insured surrenders a life insurance policy to get rid of the burden of the premium amount to be paid to the insurers. An increase in the surrender rate this year could be due to an increased financial burden to the insured caused by increased interest rates of banks and soaring consumer prices, said analysts. According to Manoj Lal Karna, CEO of Union Life Insurance, people are surrendering policies to solve their financial problems. "The growth of the insurance business has been held back in the current fiscal year due to the economic slowdown. We are observing a surge in policy surrender," said Karna. According to him, there has been growth in the number of policies lapse. Policy lapse happens when people do not pay the installment of the premium within the specified time. The government records show that a total of 41 percent of the population now has access to insurance services. However, the case of surrendering the policies is also on the rise.  

While Nepal spends a huge amount of its foreign exchange on import bills yearly, foreign education and abroad travel have emerged as the other major areas where the country's hard-earned foreign currency is being spent. According to the latest macroeconomic report of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Nepalis have spent Rs 51.44 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2022/23 for foreign education and abroad travel. The amount spent by Nepalis for these two purposes is much higher than the country's tourism income during the same period. Foreign tourists spent as much as Rs 28 billion in Nepal in the first half of the current fiscal year. Nepalis have been going for study abroad which has resulted in growing spending. Nepalis spent as much as Rs 67.70 billion for education abroad in the last fiscal year 2021/22 which had surged due to suppressed spending in the previous two fiscal years due to Covid-related restrictions. In FY 2020/21 and FY 2019/20, spending for education decreased to Rs 24.95 billion and Rs 25.81 billion, according to the NRB. Likewise, Nepalis are spending heavily on traveling to other countries as tourists. According to NRB data, as much as Rs 16 billion was spent on foreign travels during the first six months of the current fiscal year. Nepalis spent around Rs 30 billion traveling to foreign destinations in FY 2021/22 which is close to the country's tourism earnings of Rs 32.44 billion. “Partial spending by Nepali migrant workers in foreign exchange is also included in this expenditure,” said a senior NRB official. “Nepalis are spending large amounts of foreign exchanges for travels abroad for different purposes in recent years,” said the NRB official. “As Nepal is an open economy, we cannot control such spending.” Nepalis spent as much as Rs 97.32 billion in the last fiscal year 2021/22 for travels abroad both for visiting foreign destinations and studying abroad which is triple the amount the country earned from foreign travelers. Nepal earned as much as Rs 32.44 billion from foreign visitors in the last fiscal year. Nepal’s tourism earnings were battered by travel curbs after the Covid-19 pandemic which has been recovering lately. The country earned only Rs 7.26 billion from foreign tourists in the fiscal year 2020/21, according to NRB. But the country’s tourism is reviving which is clearly indicated by the growth in foreign visitors in 2022. Nepal welcomed 614,148 foreign tourists in 2022, a sharp rise from 149,833 in 2021, according to Department Immigration data. In January, 55,074 foreign visitors visited the country. Nepal has targeted to welcome one million foreign tourists in 2023. “As international travel has become easier, more tourists are expected to visit Nepal in 2022 and we can hope foreign currency earnings to rise,” said the NRB official.   RISING TRAVEL SPENDING

The price of gold has increased by Rs 100 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 104, 900 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 104, 800 per tola on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 104, 400 per tola. It was traded at Rs 104, 300 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1,320 per tola today.

The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against five commercial banks for non-compliance with rules and directives related to anti-money laundering (AML). The central bank has slapped a fine of Rs 5 million each on four commercial banks while warning a commercial bank. NRB has taken enforcement action against nine commercial banks till the second quarter of the current fiscal year. Of them, Prabhu Bank, Kumari Bank, Bank of Kathmandu (BOK) (now merged with Global IME Bank) and Prime Commercial Bank have been fined Rs 5 million each for violating the law related to money laundering. According to the NRB, Nabil Bank has been cautioned after it was found that the bank failed to implement provisions related to know-your-customer (KYC). NRB Executive Director Dev Kumar Dhakal said that fines have been slapped so that they correct their ways in the coming days. "The four banks have been fined and one bank has been cautioned for their non-compliance to the directives issued by the central bank," said Dhakal. According to NRB sources, actions were taken against these four banks after they did not follow the central bank order to freeze the bank account of Prithvi Bahadur Shah who attempted to bring undisclosed funds earned from criminal activities abroad. Citing some suspicious activities, the central bank had frozen Rs 400 million Shah brought from the US as per the request of a US government agency. Stating that the money sent in the name of Shah was illegally earned, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a US government agency under the Department of Treasury, had asked the Financial Information Unit (FIU) of the NRB to freeze the amount and return it to the US. FinCEN collects and analyses information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police arrested Shah and five others on January 7 on a charge of defrauding millions of dollars through unauthorized entry into the computer systems of foreign nationals. Similarly, NRB has cautioned the CEO of Machhapuchhre Bank for not reporting the correct details of the capital fund according to the capital adequacy framework. Likewise, the central bank has also cautioned Sanima Bank for providing additional facilities to the then CEO Bhuvan Dahal contrary to the provisions of the Bank and Financial Institution Act 2073. The central bank has also cautioned CEOs of Machhapuchhre Bank, Civil Bank and Nepal Investment Bank (now Nepal Investment Mega Bank), on the charge of collecting more interest from borrowers by increasing premiums contrary to the instructions of the regulatory body.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Bimala Rai Paudyal held a telephone conversation with her Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Wednesday. In the telephone call to the Turkish Foreign Minister, she expressed her deep condolences to those who lost their lives in the devastating earthquake. During the conversation, Minister Paudyal expressed her commitment to provide all possible support to Turkey. On top of that, she urged her Turkish counterpart to move Nepalis living in Turkey to a safe area. Saying that rescue operations are being carried out with the help of international organizations, Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu thanked the Nepal government. More than 11, 000 people died in the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday.