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Japan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Miyaji Takuma, on Monday paid a courtesy call on Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba.

The Foreign Minister and Japan's Minister of State who are presently in Muscat, the capital of Oman, to attend the '8th Indian Ocean Conference' held the bilateral meeting today.

 During the meeting, the two exchanged views on various dimensions of Nepal-Japan relations and mutual interests. On the occasion, the Minister recognized Japan as one of the major development partners, contributing to Nepal's development in the socio-economic sectors.

The two also discussed the upcoming celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Nepal-Japan diplomatic ties in 2026. Matters relating to the likely exchange of high-level visits between the two countries were discussed during the meeting.

On the occasion, the Minister expected the necessary support from the Government of Japan in the aftermath of the endorsement of working procedure regarding Nepal-Japan last year's agreement to hire skilled workforce from Nepal for the upcoming five years.

The Minister also utilized the opportunity to call on the Government of Japan to assist Nepal in the reconstruction of the BP Highway that was significantly damaged by the September (2023) rains.

Foreign Minister Rana urged Japan for its cooperation to connect Japan with the Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport and Pokhara Airport with direct flights.

The extension of the direct flight between Nepal and Japan (Narita-Kathmandu) to Lumbini will be beneficial for Japanese citizens aspiring to visit Lumbini, enhancing cultural ties between Nepal and Japan. In response, the Japanese Minister said he would respond to the call after a feasibility evaluation.

Three persons died and four others were injured when a car they were travelling in met with an accident on Monday. They were returning home after attending the Kumbh Mela in India.

The deceased have been identified as Ganga Sharma, Ganesh Khanal and Deepa Khanal of Devdaha Municipality-9, Rupandehi, SP Ranjit Singh Rathore informed.

According to him, Ganesh and Geepa are husband and wife.

The injured have been taken to the Maharajgunj District Hospital after receiving primary treatment at the Ajmagadh-based local hospital.

There were eight persons including the driver in the vehicle.

The administration of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in India has allegedly suppressed protests demanding justice for Nepali student Prakriti Lamsal, who was found dead in her hostel room. Nepali students protesting for a thorough investigation were reportedly expelled from the college. A student sharing photos and videos from the college, told ApEx, “We were demanding an investigation, but instead, the administration expelled us.” KIIT has around 1,500 Nepali students.

Lamsal had previously filed a complaint with the International Relations Officer (IRO) against a fellow student for prolonged harassment, but no serious action was taken. Following her death, the college issued a statement claiming it was a suicide, though the exact cause will be confirmed after a post-mortem examination at Capital Hospital.

Regular import of petroleum products via pipelines from India's Motihari to Amlekhgunj in Bara has started.

Nepal Oil Corporation's Madhes Regional Office Amlekhgunj has said that the import of petroleum products, including petrol and kerosene, has started from the pipelines after the completion of the work of the Intra-national Petroleum Pipeline Expansion.

Pralayankar Acharya, Chief of Nepal Oil Corporation Madhes Province Office, Amlekhgunj, informed that the entire work of petroleum pipeline expansion has been completed and the regular import of petroleum products from the pipelines has been started for a few days.

"However, petrol and kerosene have already been imported from the pipelines," Chief Acharya said, "Now, we have started formally distributing the imported petrol from the pipelines to the depots in major cities in the country."

Under the pipeline expansion project, two petrol tanks with a capacity of 4,100 kiloliters, two transmix tanks with a capacity of 250 kiloliters, 24 fully automatic loading way-refillers for transporting petrol, pump house and laboratory have been constructed at the Indian Oil Corporation's depot in Amlekhgunj.

Under the same project, the upgrade of the 'Fire Fighting System', the 'OWS System' for water and oil separation and the PMCC Cell have also been constructed.

Likhita Infrastructure was contracted to complete the construction of the entire infrastructure by 2023. Chief Acharya said that the work of expanding the pipelines was completed only a few days ago for various reasons.

Similarly, Indian Oil Corporation has constructed two transmix tanks to store mixed fuel which can be both petrol and diesel and a firewater tank with a capacity of 3000 kilolitres for protection inside the depot.

With the completion of this project, the storage capacity of diesel at Amlekhgunj depot will be 24,840 kiloliters and the storage capacity of petrol will be 16,630 kiloliters.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 29.87 points to close at 2,727.91 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 6.28 points to close at 459. 70 points.

A total of 18,081,168-unit shares of 302 companies were traded for Rs 10. 04 billion.

Meanwhile, Wean Nepal Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (WNLB), Gurans Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (GLBSL), Kutheli Bukhari Small Hydropower Limited (KBSH), Excel Development Bank Ltd. (EDBL) and Guardian Micro Life Insurance Limited (GMLI) were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Saptakoshi Development Bank Ltd (SAPDBL) was the top loser as its price fell by 10.00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 52 trillion.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has been discharged from the Kirtipur Hospital after receiving treatment for burn injuries.

DPM Paudel and Pokhara Metropolitan City Mayor Dhanraj Acharya were injured after a hydrogen balloon exploded at an event organized for the promotion of tourism in Pokhara on Saturday.

They were being treated in intensive care units at the hospital for two days.

Though Mayor Dhanraj Acharya's health condition is normal, he will be kept in the hospital for a few more days.  According to the hospital, "Both burn injuries are healing and there does not appear to be any adverse effect on the lungs."

Therefore, it has been decided to 'discharge' DPM Paudel from the hospital today, "said a press release issued by Kirtipur Hospital.

Non-banking assets of banks and financial institutions have increased by a whopping 71.89 percent in one year. 

Such assets, which stood at Rs 23.71bn in mid-January last year, have now reached Rs 40.75bn, suggesting that the number of people unable to repay loans has increased, while buyers of auctioned properties have decreased.

When borrowers fail to pay the principal and interest within the specified time, banks put up collateral pledged by the borrowers for auction. Banks and financial institutions have to take ownership of such properties themselves if they fail to find buyers through auction. They are required to sell these properties as soon as possible.

However, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) data shows that properties put up for auction by banks have stopped selling. As a result, the size of non-banking assets that banks hold is expanding. Additionally, banks must maintain a 100 percent loan loss provision for such assets from the date of acquisition to protect against risk. This causes an increase in provisioning amounts, thereby hitting the profitability of banks.

Non-banking assets have accumulated in banks and financial institutions due to increasing loan defaults and unsold auctioned properties. The total loans of banks and financial institutions amount to Rs 5,435trn. According to the central bank, the total loan amount, including loan loss provisions, is currently at around Rs 5,700trn.

Non-banking assets account for 0.75 percent of total loans extended by banks. Banking expert Anal Raj Bhattarai says risk is increasing as non-banking assets approach one percent of total loans.

According to NRB, commercial banks hold 80.12 percent of total non-banking assets in the banking system. Twenty commercial banks alone hold Rs 32.46bn worth of non-banking assets—a 64.29 percent increase from last year’s Rs 18.89bn.

Similarly, 17 development banks have Rs 3.65bn worth of non-banking assets—a rise of 45.35 percent compared to Rs 2.51bn last year. Non-banking assets with finance companies have also gone up by 72.59 percent to Rs 2.27bn.

As per the property ceiling rule, banks must dispose of these assets within three years. They must receive approval from the government if they fail to sell off these assets within three years.

However, banks are facing challenges in the management of assets, which they are struggling to dispose of, according to Bhattarai. “The non-performing loans (NPL) ratio has reached around five percent compared to just around one percent three years ago. It is still increasing,” Bhattarai said. “Our economy’s drivers are not moving at a rapid pace. As a consumption-based country, we have not been able to increase production. Real estate transaction prices have increased significantly, while people’s purchasing power is not going up at the same pace.”

Bhattarai said the economy is tightening from all sides. “There is low business turnover, no new job creation, and the Nepali rupee has fallen from 120 to around 140 per dollar over the past three to four years. There is a big difference between pre-covid and now. This has made imported goods increasingly expensive,” he added. “This has increased the cost of living. As living costs increase, loan repayment capacity decreases.”

With non-banking assets rising, bankers have felt the need for a bad bank. The NRB announced through the monetary policy that a bad bank would be established.

“An asset management company requires capital. This capital needs financial commitment from various institutions, including the government,” Bhattarai said. “The central bank should focus on policy reforms for now, keeping the bad bank in long-term planning,” he added.

Bankers say they can find a solution to non-banking asset problems only if an asset management company is established as soon as possible. “The current situation in banks has arisen because loans deteriorated and turned into bad loans,” Nepal Bankers Association (NBA) President Santosh Koirala said. “Banks have been failing to dispose of non-banking assets despite repeated attempts.”

The price of gold has increased by Rs 1, 200 per tola in the domestic market on Monday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 168, 700 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 167, 500 per tola on Sunday.

Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 15 and is being traded at Rs 1,970 per tola today.