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People from the Tamang community are celebrating Sonam Lhosar with fanfare by extending greetings to one another and feasting on traditional cuisines today. Sonam Lhosar is being celebrated on the first day of the new moon in the month of Magh in the lunar calendar. According to the Manju Shree calendar, Tamangs divide their year into 12 cycles, each is given a special name, before the name of animals. The government has announced a public holiday today to celebrate the festival. The Tamang Community is the fifth largest community in term of population in Nepal, comprising 5.64 percent of the total population, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.    

Four persons died and one sustained critical injuries when a double cap Hilux met with an accident at Jhupra Khola in Birendranagar Municipality-11 of Surkhet district in the wee hours of Sunday. The vehicle (Ba Pra 01026 Cha 9213) was heading towards Birendranagar from Chinchu of Surkhet when the incident occurred at around 2 am today. The deceased have been identified as driver Sagar Shahi (27) of Birendranagar Municipality-7, Deepak Jung Shahi (33) of Dungeshwor Municipality-5, Dailekh, Babin Shahi (31) of Bhagwatimai Rural Municipality-5, Dailekh and Rajendra BC of Gurans Rural Municipality-3, Dailekh. Birendra Shahi (26) of Gabhairabi Rural Municipality-5, who was seriously injured in the accident, is undergoing treatment at the Karnali Province Hospital. The vehicle fell some 70 meters down the road, police said.

Indira Rana Magar of Rastriya Swatantra Party has been elected as the deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. She was elected as the deputy Speaker by securing 166 votes. Dana’s closest contender Mukta Kumari Yadav of the Nepali Congress garnered 97 votes. A total of 264 lawmakers cast their votes in the election held today, Speaker Devraj Ghimire said. Sobhita Gautam proposed Magar’s candidacy while Krishna Gopal Shrestha of the CPN-UML, Narayani Sharma of the CPN (Maoist Center) and Rajendra Lingden of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party seconded the proposal.      

The Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border point, one of the key trade routes between Nepal and China, has been closed till February 3. Rasuwa Customs Office Chief Narayan Prasad Bhandari said that China has closed the border point till February 3 citing Chinese New Year. According to Bhandari, a total of 39 containers loaded goods have been exported to China from Nepal in a month. “So far 39 containers laden with goods worth around Rs 60 million have been exported to China from Nepal,” he said, adding, “Everyday, 14 containers are coming to Nepal from China, that too has been closed from today.” Earlier, China had closed the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border point for a long time, throwing local traders out of jobs. The border point, which was closed following the Covid-19 pandemic, was opened on December 28, but there is no significant progress in the business. The trade between Nepal and China is yet to come on track. The 2015 devastating Gorkha earthquake and the Covid-19 pandemic that spread from China three years ago have badly affected the trade between the two countries. Tatopani of Sindhupalchok and Rasuwagadhi of Rasuwa, two border points which were in operation for trade between the two countries, have not returned to normalcy. ALSO READ: Despite reopening of border, restrictions still hinder Nepal’s exports to China According to the statistics of the Customs Department, the annual foreign trade between the two countries is more than Rs 2.5 billion in the normal state. But, the two customs offices—Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi—which are connected to trade with China have been very poor in recent years. Tatopani Customs Office Chief Dayananda KC said that though Nepali consulate in Lhasa has been taking initiative to open the export, the date has not been fixed yet. At one time, 80 to 85 staffers used to be deployed to operate the Tatopani Customs Office. Now, there are only 14. China has also removed its customs office, saying that the place was unsafe for human settlement.

The government has not been able to increase capital expenditure. Despite repeated attempts, no government over the years has been able to increase expenditure in development works. Additionally, the government has not been able to adopt any measures to boost capital expenditure, which is crucial for economic prosperity. Former Vice Chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC) and Member of Bagmati Province Assembly, Dinesh Chandra Devkota, suggests that the inability to spend capital is due to a structural fault. "There needs to be a radical change in the structure. We need to break away from the trend of not being able to execute but only adding more work," said Devkota. The shift to federalism brought hope and expectations of increased capital expenditure and rapid development for the country. However, experts claim that the post-federal government has failed to take any action to increase capital expenditure, despite the promise of development under the new system. Devkota argues that even though the country has transitioned to federalism, the central government has not fully decentralized the power of development and construction to the local and state governments as outlined in the constitution. “Even small-scale projects are handled by the center. The central government continues to retain control and does not delegate budget or staff to the provincial and local levels,” he said, adding that it will be impossible to increase capital expenditure without increasing capacity by delegating staff and budget to lower levels. Budgets are allocated without any proper planning or preparing a detailed project report (DPR). This has resulted in a lack of capital expenditure. Additionally, issues with land acquisition further hinders the ability to increase spending. The government's capital expenditure has been only 14.05% of the target in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2022/23. Till the end of January, the government has managed to spend Rs 53.45 billion. The inability to improve capital expenditure has resulted in frequent halting of development and construction projects. It has been observed that the government tends to spend a majority of the capital budget at the end of the financial year. The expenditure incurred at this time leads to poor quality works. According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), capital expenditure was only 13.44%, or Rs 50.80 billion, in the first half of the previous fiscal year. Since the adoption of the new constitution, no government has been able to prioritize increasing capital expenditure. There is very little spending in the first six months of the financial year, and often the entire allocated budget is not spent by the end of the year. Only 14.4% of the capital budget was spent in the first six months of 2020/22. Data shows capital expenditure over the last six years has been extremely disappointing. Economists are expressing concerns that the development budget is not being spent in a timely manner and that it is contributing to the current economic crisis. In the fiscal year 2021/22, the government could spend only Rs 227.73 billion out of the Rs 352.91 billion allocated for capital expenditure. In 2020/21, the government allocated a capital budget of Rs 408 billion, but only Rs 189 billion, or 46.34%, was spent. In 2019/20, out of the Rs 314 billion capital budget, Rs 241.56 billion, or 76.93%, was spent. In 2018/19, the government managed to spend Rs 270.71 billion of the allocated Rs 335.16 billion. This was nearly 81% of the targeted capital spending. The government has allocated a budget of Rs 380.38 billion for development spending for the current fiscal year. It is estimated that capital spending will suffer this year as well. Economists argue that capital spending is not picking up the failure to prepare a work calendar. Even though the Ministry of Finance has been giving authorization for spending on the first day of the fiscal year i.e. mid-July, the concerned ministries and departments have been found deploying the budget rather late. relevant Ministries and Departments sent it to the field late, but could not capitalize on it. Devkota points out that the budget is allocated even before completing the feasibility study. This also affects spending, he added. Economist Dr Dilliraj Khanal sees problems in project preparation. "There are problems with budgeting, allocation of resources, planning, and project sector policy formulation," said Khanal. "The expenditure will not increase until the problem of sectoral priorities and targets is solved," he added. The problem in project execution still persists even though there is a gap of 45 days between allocation and authorization. The government announces fiscal budget at May-end and gives spending authorization from mid-July. Earlier, the budget would be released rather late. These days, however, the budget can be released from the first day of the fiscal year. In order to improve expenditure, Dr Khanal underlined the need to prepare an action plan by setting targets, reviewing daily performance, and putting in place work performance indicators. The slow public spending is due to a lack of transparency in expenditure, said Khanal. "Construction entrepreneurs are showing negligence as wrongdoers are never punished. Unaccounted expenditure is rising, and so is the trend of abusing resources. There is a lack of check and balance,” he said, adding that if the budget is implemented with an emphasis on good governance, capital expenditure will increase.  

Mukta Yadav of the Nepali Congress has filed her nomination for the post of deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives on Friday. Badri Pandey proposed her candidacy while Sarbendra Sukla of the Democratic Socialist Party and Metmani Chaudhary of the CPN (Unified Socialist) seconded the proposal. Earlier, Indira Rana Magar of Rastriya Swatantra Party had filed her candidacy for the post. Sobhita Gautam proposed her candidacy while Krishna Gopal Shrestha of the CPN-UML, Narayani Sharma of the CPN (Maoist Center) and Rajendra Lingden of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party seconded the proposal. The list of the candidates will be published today itself.

Even though China reopened the Kerung-Rasuwagadhi border point for Nepal’s exports on December 28 last year, the Chinese authorities have continued to impose certain restrictions on the export of Nepali goods. The Chinese side has imposed a quota on shipments and the goods are not allowed to be imported from Nepal on a daily basis. “Imports of Nepali goods into China are allowed once in 15 days,” said an official at the Department of Customs (DoC) who wished not to be named. “Only 10 trucks of Nepali goods are allowed to pass through the border point to China at a time. It means Nepal can export only 20 trucks of goods in a month.” Since the reopening of the Kerung-Rasuwagadhi border point in late December, goods like handicrafts, bamboo items, Nepali handmade papers and carpets have been exported to China. According to the DoC official, the Chinese side has not allowed the import of food items. "Before the closure of the Nepal-China border in early 2020 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, products like wheat flour, ghee and noodles used to be exported through this border point. Nepali officials are unaware of why China has continued to impose restrictions on shipments and import of food items from Nepal. Though most of the trade between Nepal and China takes place through the sea route, a significant portion of the bilateral trade used to take place also through the land routes. In January 2020, China stopped both the export and import of goods through the land border points. Though the border points including Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani were reopened for one-way traffic of goods from China to Nepal, they remained closed for exports of goods Nepali goods. As a result, Nepal’s exports to China suffered badly leading to a widened trade deficit with China. For instance, Nepal’s exports to China in the last fiscal year 2021/22 stood at just Rs 808 million, a drop from Rs 2.1 billion in FY 2018/19. Meanwhile, imports from China grew to Rs 264.78 billion in FY 2021/22 from Rs 205.51 billion in FY 2018/19, according to DoC statistics. “The closure of borders has cost dearly to Nepal’s exports to China as the majority of such exports take place through land routes,” Purusottam Ojha, former Secretary of Commerce, told Annapurna Express in early January. Now, the Kerung-Rasuwagadhi border has been reopened for limited exports of Nepali goods while the Tatopani-Khasa border point is yet to be reopened for bilateral trade activities. “Irrespective of certain restrictions, a door has reopened for Nepal’s exports which is a positive development,” said Amrit Khadka, General manager of Federation of Export Entrepreneurs Nepal (FEEN). "It is a stepping stone in the resumption of Nepal-China trade, and we hope China will abolish all restrictions and normalize the trade through the border points as the northern neighbor has been removing the Covid-19 restrictions.” According to him, though Nepal has the option of exporting goods through the sea route and air routes to China, it is easier to export goods that are mostly consumed in the Tibet region. “Bottled water, noodles and grasses for cattle feeding used to be exported to China before the import ban was imposed in early 2020,” he said. He expressed hope that China would reopen the other border points including Tatopani-Khasa for Nepal’s exports. A Chinese embassy official in early January had said that more two-way trade routes will be opened in 2023. “The two-way trade at the Pulan/Yari port will resume in early 2023. This will provide an opportunity for Nepali exporters to export more goods to China,” said Wang Xin, Charge de Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, addressing the inauguration program of Pokhara Regional International Airport on January 1. Amid restrictive measures against Nepal’s exports through the border points, the ratio of exports to China compared to imports from the northern neighbor plunged to just 0.3 percent in the last FY 2021/22 from as high as one percent in FY 2018/19. This ratio was 3.1 percent in FY 2013/14 when Nepal exported goods worth Rs 2.84 billion to China. Trade expert Ojha told the Annapurna Express that Nepal’s exports to China compared to imports have continued to remain insignificant and border closure for exports hit even the limited exports to China. “With the reopening of the Rasuwagadhi border for exports, there is the scope for growth in exports particularly in the Tibet region of China,” he said, adding, “However, Nepal will not be able to grow exports to China until quarantine and infrastructure-related bottlenecks are resolved.” According to the Nepal Trade Information Portal of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies, China has been providing zero tariff facilities for about 8,000 goods originating in Nepal. Nepal is yet to take advantage of the Chinese market as the country does not produce niche products that can be sold in the Chinese market. As much as 95 percent of Nepal's total exports to China are these products. Exporters must meet certain rules of origin requirements for their products in order to be eligible for China's zero-tariff facilities. Despite having such a facility, Nepal has been unable to take advantage of it and increase exports. The northern neighbor promised to offer duty-free treatment to items of Nepali origin spanning 98 percent of tariff lines during the Nepal visit of Former Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in April last year. In its Nepal Development Update Report published in April 2021, the World Bank noted that Nepal has the ability to increase exports by a factor of 12 over its current annual exports, with China holding the greatest potential for growth. The unrealized export potential is referred to as "missing exports" by the multilateral organization. According to the report, China accounts for $2.2bn of Nepal's "missing exports," followed by India ($1.2bn), the United States ($800m), and Japan ($700m).

Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Indira Rana Magar filed her candidacy for deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. A Parliamentary Party meeting of the Rastriya Swatantra Party held on Friday decided to field Magar for the post of deputy Speaker. Sobhita Gautam proposed her candidacy while Krishna Gopal Shrestha of the CPN-UML, Narayani Sharma of the CPN (Maoist Center) and Rajendra Lingden of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party seconded the proposal. The list of the candidates will be published today itself. The election will be held in the meeting of the Parliament on Saturday. The meeting has been called for 1 pm tomorrow. Earlier on Thursday, Devraj Ghimire was elected as the Speaker.