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CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli called on President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Wednesday. During the meeting, the duo discussed the election of President and Vice-President and contemporary political issues. The Election Commission is making preparations for the election of President and Vice-President. At a time when preparations are being made for the election of President, UML Chairman Oli’s meeting with President Bhandari has been taken in a meaningful way. Earlier on Tuesday, Oli held separate meetings with party senior leader Ishwor Pokharel and Vice-Chairman Subash Nembang. Oli, who had reached Baluwatar to meet Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, held a meeting with Janata Samajbadi Party Chairman Upendra Yadav after returning to Balkot on Tuesday evening. According to a source, Oli met Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden on Tuesday itself.

Internet service providers have warned that internet service ‘may get interrupted any time’. The Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal (ISPAN) on Monday said that internet service could be stopped due to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) arbitrarily fixing the rental fee for using electricity poles for internet cable connectivity. Most of Nepal’s ISPs have been using electricity poles to connect their cables to the subscribers’ homes paying certain fees to the NEA. Organizing a press conference in Kathmandu on Monday, the ISPAN has appealed to the government to intervene claiming that NEA is putting unnecessary pressure on them for not paying the pole rent which the power utility increased unilaterally. According to ISPAN, NEA has snapped the internet and cable wires in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Biratnagar, Inaruwa, Kakadbhita, Gauriganj, Pokhara, Dharan, Khotang, Surkhet, Kailali, Butwal, Tikapur, Attaria, Bhairahawa, Doti, Dhankuta and Duhabi obstructing internet services in different places across the country. As NEA has intensified its action in recent days, ISPAN warned that ISPs will be unable to operate the internet service smoothly and the services are likely to get stopped at any time across the country. ISPAN President Sudhir Parajuli said that the government-owned company (NEA), through its action, is obstructing the government’s Digital Nepal Campaign. “The government’s policy of creating a Digital Nepal cannot be fulfilled without easy access to the internet. However, a state-owned entity is showing arrogance that it can obstruct the internet,” said Parajuli. “As NEA is acting unilaterally, we will not hesitate to stop the internet services. The internet can get interrupted any time,” said Parajuli. Parajuli said though two committees have been formed to resolve the pole renting issue, the dispute has not been resolved. “It has been almost 14 months since the last committee gave its report, but NEA has not taken any decision in this regard,” said Parajuli. The committee has made it clear that the burden of fare increase should not be passed on to consumers and that this increase is against the spirit of Digital Nepal. NEA has been arguing that ISPs have been using the electricity poles but haven't paid the rental charges. According to Subash Khada, CEO of ISPAN, NEA has arbitrarily increased rental charges for using electricity poles by 700 percent without any consultation with stakeholders.  

As the government struggles to expedite capital expenditure and meet the revenue target, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Tuesday instructed the government secretaries to put all their efforts into achieving the revenue target as well as improving development expenditure. The Prime Minister, who has been meeting secretaries of various ministries since Monday, gave 30-point instructions to them on Tuesday. Dahal, who has inherited a weak economy, directed secretaries to be sensitive to the fact that the revenue is not rising as per the target and capital expenditure is weak as the end of the sixth month of the fiscal year approaches. The federal budget has set a target of Rs 1,403 billion in revenue collection for this fiscal. However, after five and half months, around a quarter of the annual target ( 25.1 percent) has been collected. Given the current state of the revenue collection, it will become difficult for the government to raise the expenditure for daily administration and development expenses. The government has spent only 27.82 percent of the budget in the first five months. According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), the government’s spending stood at Rs 499 billion till December-end. As per the FCGO data, the government’s capital expenditure has remained dismal. The government has utilized only 11 percent of the total capital expenditure in the first five and half months. Meanwhile, capital expenditure till December-end stood at Rs 42.45 billion. "There are some reasons for the decrease in revenue, such as economic recession, and decrease in imports. However, income tax has not been raised as per the target. "What's more, the fact that we have to wait in long queues to pay the monthly taxes shows the level of our service delivery," said Dahal. In his direction, PM Dahal asked the secretaries to think about the slow capital expenditure and urged them to bring proposals if there are any problems at the policy level. "The government's development expenditure is only 11 percent. What are the reasons for not being able to spend on development? Who is responsible? If the cause of slow development expenditure is not found and solved now, when will it be done? If there is a problem at the policy level, bring proposals for improvement based on facts," said Dahal. PM Dahal warned that weakness in the budget implementation cannot be tolerated any longer. "On the one hand, revenue has not increased as per the target and capital expenditure is low, and on the other hand, the issues of arrears are there. This has made the whole cycle of fiscal administration problematic. It is important to be sensitive about it," said Dahal. Dahal has instructed the National Planning Commission to immediately prepare a plan to speed up the pace of physical progress of development progress. According to Dahal, if the funds allocated for development projects cannot be spent, they will be transferred to projects that can be spent elsewhere, and arrangements will be made to link the work of officials who are responsible for revenue collection and development work according to the target with their performance evaluation.

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Janata Samajbadi Party Chairman Upendra Yadav held a meeting at the former’s residence in Balkot on Tuesday. During the meeting, Yadav reiterated his party’s claim for the post of Vice-President. The Janata Samajbadi Party has been staking claim for the post Vice-President and two ministers. UML Chairman Oli, however, said that the President, Vice-President and other posts should be decided in a package as no decision has been made yet on who will be provided the post of President. During a meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Yadav said that his party should get the post of Vice-President. They discussed the government’s functioning and the Common Minimum Program to be brought by the government. A leader of his party said that Prime Minister Dahal is positive towards the demands of Yadav. The Janata Samajbadi Party had said that it would make a decision on whether to join the government or not only after the government made public the Common Minimum Program. Chairman Yadav, who had faced a defeat at the hands of Janamat Party Chairman CK Raut, has started an initiative to unite with the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led CPN (Unified Socialist).

The price of gold has increased by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 102, 900 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 102, 600 per tola on Tuesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 102, 400 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1, 400 per tola today.

2023 looks promising for Nepali tourism. The recovery seen in tourist arrivals in 2022, the opening of Pokhara Regional International Airport on January 1, and the Chinese government's announcement of resuming outbound travel of its citizens have rekindled new hope for the Nepali hospitality sector that braved over two disastrous years of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the tourism sector gradually coming out of the impact of the pandemic in 2022, travel trade entrepreneurs say there is growing optimism that there would be a surge in foreign tourist arrivals this year. After two years of negative growth, tourist arrivals touched the 600,000- mark in 2022. Tour operators say they are receiving increasing inquiries from major source markets of late. And, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) have said they are now targeting 1 million tourists in 2023. Binayak Shah, First Vice President of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) said the initial trends in tourism are encouraging. "The inquiries we've been receiving from international visitors of late have given new hope. Indian tourists are again coming in big numbers while the Chinese government has also announced resuming outbound travels for its citizens," said Shah. In 2022, tourist arrivals reached over 600,000 without any significant contribution from China, which was the second-largest source market for Nepal. Most of the flights from China to Nepal have remained suspended after the northern neighbor suspended outbound tourism since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the Chinese government has announced that they would resume outbound travel of Chinese Citizens from January 8. "China will remove restrictions to enter China from January 8 and resume the outbound travel of Chinese citizens in an orderly manner," said Wang Xin, Charge de Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu while addressing the inauguration of Pokhara Regional International Airport on Sunday. Before the pandemic-related travel restrictions began in early 2020 in Nepal and across the world, China was the second largest source market for Nepal after India as the country welcomed 169,543 tourists from the northern neighbor. A total of 1.19 million foreign tourists visited Nepal in 2019 before the pandemic hit the world. Nepali tour operators say they are hopeful of a huge surge in Chinese tourist arrivals in Nepal in 2023. “With the normalization of flights with China, we can welcome at least 100,000 Chinese tourists in 2023," said Bishwesh Shrestha, owner of C&K Travels which specializes in Chinese tourists. Shrestha said tour operators also plan to travel to China for tourism promotion this year if the Covid-19 situation improves there. In 2022, Nepal welcomed 9,595 Chinese tourists, according to NTB. According to Shrestha, there is still some uncertainty as to when other Chinese airlines would resume their flights to Nepal. While China Southern and Air China are now operating their flights to Kathmandu, other airlines - China Eastern, and Sichuan Air are yet to resume their Kathmandu flights. "Hopefully, there will be some clarity by mid-January," said Shrestha, adding, "We hope there will be more flights from China by the end of January." According to tour operators, the fact that many countries still have some kind of reservations about letting Chinese tourists enter their countries could bring a large number of Chinese tourists to Nepal. "If there will be normalization of flights from China as that of the pre-Covid period, we could welcome more than 100,000 Chinese tourists in 2023," said Shrestha. The NTB on its 24th anniversary said that it aims to attract at least one million foreign tourists in 2023. Travel trade entrepreneurs say the concerned stakeholders including government agencies must act assertively to realize the 1-million target. "All stakeholders associated with tourism must convey the message that Nepal is ready to welcome international tourists effectively and quickly. The more effectively we impart this message, the more tourists Nepal will welcome in 2023," said Shah. According to tour operators, the airlines that bring a large number of foreign tourists to Nepal - Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Korean Air along with Chinese airlines have not started their full-fledged operations in Nepal. As for the European tourists, tour operators say the flow will not increase till August/September. There are now three international airports after the inauguration of Pokhara International Airport on Sunday. Other two international airports—Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and Gautam Buddha International Airport are already operating. The Tribhuvan International Airport has been facing prolonged traffic congestion while new airports are yet to be promoted for international airlines. Tourism entrepreneurs say while Nepal has now two international airports, their full utilization is still in question. "The Nepal government must do marketing these two new airports. If we improve tourism infrastructure that includes air connectivity also, it could boost the arrivals," said Shah, "These airports, if operated properly, can handle more travelers and help increase the arrivals of foreign tourists.” said the tour operator. The government also has its own tourism revival plans. In late December, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation unveiled the strategic framework designed for the Nepal Tourism Decade 2023-2032. As per the framework, Nepal plans to bring in 3.5 million tourists, excluding India and those coming overland, in the next 10 years. The plan also aims to bring the tourist numbers to pre-pandemic levels by 2024 and increase arrivals in each subsequent year by 15 percent. Shah said the announcement of 2023-2032 as Nepal Tourism Decade by the previous government should be owned by the new government.  

After months of wrangling, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the private sector are close to a deal to resolve the working capital loans issue. The meetings between the NRB senior officials and the top leadership of the private sector in the last two days indicate both sides are working to find a middle ground to resolve the issue which forced the businessmen to hit the streets. NRB and private sector representatives appeared to have reached an understanding on rescheduling the implementation of working capital loans guidelines which has invited strong backlash from the business community. The central bank enforced the guidelines on October 18 arguing that it seeks to stop the misutilization of money loaned to business firms. NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari on Monday held a discussion with the top leaders of the private sector separately including Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) President Shekhar Golchha, Confederation of Nepalese Industries President Vishnu Kumar Agrawal and Nepal Chambers of Commerce President Rajendra Malla. According to businesspersons who were part of the delegations, the central bank has indicated flexibility to address the private sector's demand. After the new coalition government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal was formed and Bishnu Poudel took charge as the finance minister, NRB governor Adhikari initiated consultations with the umbrella organizations of the private sector. Sources said Governor Adhikari during Monday's meeting with FNCCI President Golchha and CNI President Agrawal put forward a middle point. He asked both business leaders to come up with concrete proposals on working capital loans guidelines by Tuesday. According to an FNCCI source, Golcha and Vice President Anjan Shrestha agreed on the middle point of providing 'two years to the old debtors and implementing guidelines for the new borrowers'. "However, FNCCI has made some changes in its demand after holding discussions with the presidents of the provincial chapters of FNCCI as district chapters have been demanding to adopt flexibility in the implementation of the guidelines in the case of new borrowers as well," the source said. As per the guidelines, a borrower can receive working capital loans up to only 20 percent of their annual turnover if it is less than Rs 20 million. Similarly, a borrower can receive up to 25 percent of the total annual turnover if they have an annual turnover of over Rs 20 million. The NRB is of the view that the main motive behind introducing the working capital guidelines is to deter the firms from diverting the loans for other purposes. Central bank officials believe that due to a diversion of working capital loans for other purposes such as imports, investment in real estate, and the stock market, BFI lending surged contributing to ballooning imports in the past. “Many businesspersons invested the money they borrowed as short-term working capital loans in long-term investments such as real estate and now they are struggling to cash in on those properties to bring the loan exposure to the set limit,” said an NRB official. The private sector has been demanding suspension of the implementation of the guidelines arguing that the arrangements have adversely affected their businesses. FNCCI has termed the guidelines on working capital loans as the 'major obstacle to the business and private sector growth'. Amid continued protests from the private sector, the central bank on November 16 sought advice from the stakeholders to see if there was any problem with implementing the provisions of the guidelines. While issuing the first quarterly review of the monetary policy for FY2022/23, the central bank also promised to make necessary changes based on suggestions. At that time, though NRB said it was ready to make necessary amendments to the guidelines, the central bank, however, remained steadfast about the need for such monetary arrangements. Nonetheless, with the formation of the new government and CPN (UML) leader Bishnu Paudel becoming the new finance minister, NRB has seemingly softened its stance. Observers say that this is due to the pressure of the finance minister who has promised the private sector leaders to resolve the issues business community members are facing at present. A senior NRB official acknowledged that they are now in discussion with the private sector on resolving the working capital loans issue. "At the moment, there have been talks with them (private sector). The issue of rescheduling the working capital loans is also under discussion. But no conclusion has been reached. We have also sought feedback from the banks and financial institutions about the problems in the implementation of the guideline," said the official.

The banking sector will see the successful completion of mergers of four commercial banks - Nepal Investment Bank-Mega Bank, Global IME Bank-Bank of Kathmandu, and an acquisition - Prabhu Bank-Century Commercial Bank by the second week of January. The Global IME-Bank of Kathmandu merger will come to a logical conclusion on January 9 with the start of their integrated business. Post-merger, the merged entity will be named Global IME Bank. Similarly, the integrated business of Nepal Investment Bank and Mega Bank will start on January 11. The Nepal Investment-Mega Bank merger will take place with a swap ratio of 1:09. Post-merger, the bank will be known as Nepal Investment Mega Bank with paid-up capital of Rs 34.43 billion. The central bank's board meeting on December 29 has given the final approval for the merger between Global IME Bank and Bank of Kathmandu. The same meeting also gave final approval for the merger between Nepal Investment Bank and Mega Bank. After the merger, the Chairman of the Global IME Bank will be Chandra Prasad Dhakal while Ratna Raj Bajracharya, the current CEO of Global IME will continue to be the chief executive of the new entity formed after the merger. Prithvi Bahadur Pande will be the chairman of Nepal Investment Mega Bank while Jyoti Prakash Pandey will be the CEO. Similarly, Prajanyaraj Bhandari and Kavi Tivrewala from Nepal Investment Bank will become directors after the merger. Similarly, Gopal Khanal, Muktiram Pandey, and Madan Kumar Acharya from Mega Bank will become directors after the merger. One director of Nepal Investment Bank is yet to be decided. With NRB giving find nod to Prabhu Bank's acquisition of Century Commercial Bank, both banks have decided to start an integrated business on January 13. Post-acquisition, the bank will be named Prabhu Bank. Prabhu Bank is acquiring Century Bank with a swap ratio of 1:1. The total number of commercial banks that had reached 32 in 2014 will come down to 22 this year if all these mergers and acquisitions materialize.