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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 12. 84 points to close at 2,676.15 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 1. 36 points to close at 455. 67 points.

A total of 11,523,003-unit shares of 317 companies were traded for Rs 5. 62 billion.

Meanwhile, Emerging Nepal Limited (ENL) was the top gainer today with its price surging by 8. 76 percent. Likewise, Swabhimaan Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SMFBS) was the top loser with its price dropped by 10. 00 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 43 trillion.

The Volunteer for Change (VFC) Youth Cohort of Lalitpur successfully led the final river clean-up campaign under Project CAP, making a lasting impact at the Bagmati River in Bungamati. The event, which saw 75 participants, including 22 Nepal Army personnel, four Armed Police Force officers, and volunteers from the Rotary Club Balaju, resulted in the collection of an impressive 1,120 kilograms of waste from the riverbanks.

The campaign was part of Project CAP (Collaborative Approach for Preventing Plastic Leakages in Rivers of Nepal), a joint initiative aimed at combating plastic pollution and promoting sustainable practices. Funded by the PLEASE (Plastic Free Rivers and Seas for South Asia) Project and implemented by the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme, with support from the World Bank and UNOPS, the project has been a crucial step toward protecting Nepal's rivers.

Trained under Project CAP, the VFC Youth Cohort played a pivotal role in organizing the clean-up, showcasing the vital role of youth in environmental action. Jamadar Ishwari P. Bhattarai from the Nepal Army also participated in the event, underscoring the importance of collaboration across different sectors to address plastic waste.

"This cleanup wasn’t just about removing waste from the riverbanks; it was about fostering community action and inspiring others to carry forward the mission of sustainability," said a representative from the youth cohort.

Though this marks the final clean-up campaign under Project CAP, the broader initiatives of the project continue, focusing on empowering communities and tackling plastic pollution at its source. 

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel and United States (US) Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu have held a meeting on Monday.

In the meeting held at the Ministry of Finance in Singha Durbar, they discussed bilateral economic cooperation, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), effective implementation of projects being implemented under the US Agency for International Development (USAID), mobilization of development finance and private sector investment, among other topics.

"Discussions were also held on exchanging cooperation between Nepal and the USA. Talks were held on the implementation of projects operated under MCC and the USAID with US assistance," said Joint Secretary at the Ministry, Dhaniram Sharma.

According to Sharma, during the discussions, the US official also showed his interest as to how the investment of the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) could be made effective and expanded, and how additional capital was brought to Nepal, in the context of DFC's investment in Nepali's private sector as well.

"In this topic we have expressed the government's commitment to extend support for encouraging the investment from the private sector," Joint Secretary Sharma added.

On the occasion, Finance Minister Paudel said that the main priority is on economic development as there is political stability in Nepal now and urged the US Assistant Secretary of State Lu to further expand US assistance to Nepal for that purpose.

The US Assistant Minister of State said that although some countries of South Asia were facing economic difficulties, Nepal has become successful in maintaining economic growth and stability and expressed his happiness over this.

He informed that the United States of America is providing additional economic assistance to Nepal in the coming days.

Krishna Niraula, 51, from Limchungbung Rural Municipality-2, Udayapur, once embraced the armed people’s war led by the then CPN-Maoist, believing that revolution could only succeed through a combination of the pen, pencil, and gun. Now, he has renounced politics and embarked on an agricultural revolution.

Niraula joined the Maoists on 6 March 1997, during the 10-year people’s war, where he initially played the Madal (a traditional drum). Today, he cultivates oranges and lemons on his 13-aana land, finding fulfillment in farming.

“When the Maoists embraced the parliamentary system, I felt the revolution was no longer possible, and the achievements could not be sustained. I returned home in tears and took up agriculture,” he shares. Niraula now manages 500 orange trees and 150 lemon plants, generating a substantial income.

For the past four years, he has earned approximately Rs 600,000 annually, and he estimates earning over Rs 1m in this year’s orange season alone. Despite some marketing challenges, oranges sell for Rs 90 to 100 per kilogram locally and Rs 150 in commercial hubs like Gaighat, Murkuchi, and Katari.

Inspired by his efforts, 80 other families in Tamlicha have joined in orange and lemon farming. Niraula predicts that this season alone, more than 10 vehicles filled with oranges from Tamlicha will be sent to commercial centers, bringing over Rs 50m in revenue to the village.

Oranges bloom in late February and are ready for harvest within 8-9 months. While the rural municipality and the Prime Minister’s Agriculture Modernization Project provide some support, such as an irrigation water storage system for 80 liters, large-scale assistance remains absent.

Niraula’s orange farming has transformed his family’s life. “With the income, I’ve funded my children’s education and healthcare. My eldest daughter, who holds a master’s degree, is married to a Korean national. My younger daughter is pursuing an ISC degree, and my son is preparing to study IT after completing Class 12 in science,” he says.

Recalling his days in politics, Niraula admits that he returned home in despair after the revolution he envisioned fell short. “I believed building the country would also build my home. But when I returned, I found my house destroyed, my parents aged, my wife unwell, and my children like orphans. I spent months crying,” he recalls, standing in front of his dilapidated house.

Reflecting on the political system, he laments, “What was the purpose of the people’s war when the children of ordinary poor families can’t even contest elections? The current government and electoral system are deeply flawed.” He adds that without a fully proportional system, the revolution remains incomplete.

Niraula’s political journey began with the UML, inspired by Manmohan Adhikari’s nine-month tenure. Later, disillusioned with the parliamentary system, he joined the people’s war. During the conflict, he served as the district president of the Jana Sanskriti Manch, led the Jana Sanskriti family, and chaired the Tamlicha People’s Government from 1998 to 2000, addressing feudalism and corruption.

He also led the All Nepal Revolutionary Farmers’ Organization as district secretary and president for two terms, advocating for an agricultural revolution. Although he holds a position on the Koshi Province Committee, he remains inactive. “I now want to live as a free citizen,” he says.

Disenchanted with politics, especially after the Maoists endorsed the controversial MCC agreement, Niraula declares that all three major parties in Nepal are alike. “There is no point in supporting the Maoists anymore,” he asserts.

Determined to chart a new path, Niraula has registered an agricultural and animal husbandry firm, using his ancestral 15–20 ropani of land to drive an agricultural revolution. Born to Ambar Bahadur and Ambikadevi Khatri, he has first hand experience of clashes in Ramechhap’s Lapchane, Bhojpur’s Hatuwagadhi, Siraha’s Bandipur, Choharwa, and Udaipur’s Gaighat Karamagachi during the people’s war.

Now, Niraula channels his energy into farming, turning his disillusionment with politics into hope for a self-reliant future.

Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, the president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), has been involved in Nepal’s manufacturing sector since 1992. As the executive director of RMC Group, he oversees a diverse portfolio of products spanning cement, steel, and food industries. With 30 years of experience in the business, Agrawal has developed a profound understanding of financial management, ensuring the company’s financial stability and consistent profitability over the years. Kamal Dev Bhattarai and Pratik Ghimire of ApEx spoke to Agrawal about the state of the country’s economy and more. Excerpts:

What situation is our economy currently in?

Our economy is still going through a difficult situation. The official data shows improvements in some areas such as foreign exchange reserves, banks are loaded with cash, interest rates are going down among others. However, on the other side, we see that our exports are not increasing, in fact, they are decreasing gradually over the past three years and the government’s revenue is not increasing. Although some data shows an increase in revenue, we still need to conduct analysis to ascertain the actual situation. According to the statistics of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the last three quarters, there is not a visible improvement. Last year’s projected GDP was 3.87 which is mainly due to the contribution of the energy sector. Production and manufacturing sectors are still in the negative growth—they are not doing very well. Due to a low aggregate demand, the economy is not able to take off. 

However, I don’t see low exports as the most alarming economic concern for us because production needs to increase first in order to see a growth in exports. Production itself is low in our economy right now. The sector’s contribution in our GDP is decreasing. In such a situation, how can our exports increase? In some sectors, exports are increasing such as IT. But for production and manufacture based products, exports will only increase following an increase in production. Therefore, the CNI sees a push in production as the main goal rather than an increase in exports. Unless we are self-sufficient in the production of any good, there is no possibility of exports. For example, we used to import cement. After the government’s support, the production of cement within the country increased and we became self-sufficient. Since the last two years, we have been exporting cement as well. Therefore, low exports are not the major issue of concern, the main problems currently at hand are decreased productions and increased imports.

Post covid, countries in Asia and worldwide seem to be improving their aggregate demands. Why is it that Nepal has not seen any improvement whatsoever?

The main reason is policy-induced slowness in the economy. The pandemic was an unimaginable period that no one had anticipated. However, after that, the policies we adopted have caused the situation we are currently in. There is no other reason or any external shock. For example, the policy to reduce demand and increase interest rate was introduced in order to influence currency rate. The rate, however, was influenced entirely by our exports and was out of our control. Our decision to introduce such a strong policy resulted in an increased amount of imports, which put pressure on our foreign currency rates. Then, we moved towards a policy to ban imports. This caused panic in the economy. We had to take a loan from an international organization, which had its own set of terms and conditions. To fulfill those terms, we introduced some new policies. 

Loans in the private sector increased. We introduced policies to reduce these loans. Then, there was a boost in the real estate industry. We focused on controlling the prices. Then the share market boomed, and our focus shifted on controlling that increase. All these controlling policies continue to have effects on our current economy and we still bear consequences. The CNI believes that we are experiencing a policy-induced slowness. And the policies that were adopted due to whatever reasons at the time should have been reversed after a year. Some policies were reversed to some level in the last year but it happened too late. Therefore, its consequences still occur and will remain for quite some time.

The policies that we adopted for our imports out of panic are the biggest blunder that happened in the last five years, is that true?

That is not the only reason. It has not caused a major effect in the internal production sector because the policies were to ban import of luxurious goods. The main effects the policy had was on a sentimental level among the citizens. It generated fear regarding the future of the economy, affected government’s revenue, and gave rise to illegal business. The policy we took to lower demand and increase interest rates and to reduce loans in the private sector made major impacts. All the policies we adopted acted as a brake to our economy. If we slowed down gradually at a slower rate, the economy would absorb better. We could have increased interest rates by 0.25 or 0.5 percent as internationally advised, but we adopted a drastic two percent increase even when the situation did not favor. Policies were changed so fast that the economy was unable to keep up. All these controlling policies had an effect on cooperatives as well. We were unable to revive the cooperative sector—which is so closely connected to the general public and small businesses—even after reversing these policies. 

The restrictions implemented from Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) at that time on the real estate business should be relaxed. The cap on investments in the share market could be removed to send a positive message. NRB has issued a working capital guideline for the loans in the private sector which has caused major effects in the production sector. NRB’s direct lending is 40 percent which is being misused in agriculture and energy industries. Asset classification guidelines have also been issued which is not efficient for group businesses. 

Apart from that, another need is to increase demand. However, the government does not have sufficient funds for that. Contractors are not being paid. A suggestion is to issue 10-year bonds for these contractors equal to the amount to be paid and 90 percent of the bond can be withdrawn from the bank. The government should immediately form a committee to limit projects and focus the budget on projects of greater importance rather than coming up with plans with insufficient budgets. It will take a great deal of time to improve the economy if we don’t take a focused approach for things.

To what extent does our political situation affect the economy?

The political environment definitely affects the economy. Our major problem is the frequent government change. The government is changing every six months. Many tactical decisions require the government’s initiation to move forward. With frequent government change, policies cannot be implemented in such short time periods. How can ministers make decisions when they are not even sure how long they will be in the position for? 

Political stability is of extreme importance because policies drive everything in an economy. There are still some old laws that need to be rectified. With the rapid change occurring worldwide, laws have to be updated accordingly. For this, a stable government and a stable bureaucracy is of extreme importance. There are three years left till the next election. A lot can be done in these three years. Everyone has now understood that for the economy to be stable, current problems need to be dealt with differently. Without political stability, we cannot escape these issues.

There has been growing concern about corruption and criminal activities within government and law enforcement sectors. This has caused an increasing sense of insecurity among businesspeople and has contributed to capital flight. How do you view this?

There are a lot of reasons for this. Firstly, if someone has committed any crime or misdemeanor, it has to be investigated, even if it is from two years ago or ten years ago. However, the old laws that I talked of before have been creating a big problem. If someone is proven guilty, they have to be punished. But right now, even people that have not been proven guilty are being put in jail. We are not asking to release the guilty. But a respected businessperson is not going to run away and there is no reason to put them in jail to be investigated. This is what we at the CNI feel. For this, we have appealed for the provision of an anticipatory bail. 

Some bankers were also convicted some time ago for signatures while issuing loans. While making so many decisions at once, some might go wrong. We have to analyze whether misdemeanors are done intentionally or not. Maybe some government officials could have made mistakes? Investigations are important. But putting someone in jail first, then moving towards investigations is not the way to go. If you see a possibility of the person running away, then sure, it is right to capture them. But if someone is willing to show up when called upon, it is not right to put them in jail before proven guilty.

The CNI suggests that financial penalties should be issued for financial crimes—jails are not the only solution. For example, if there is a tax evasion of 100m and if the person agrees to negotiate and pay the amount, then it’s done. Using the country’s resources to investigate further for like ten years into the case is useless if the person is willing to accept, negotiate and pay.

The kind of investments and support that we are looking for from the international community seems to be falling. FDI seems to be declining. What seems to be the problem?

Ultimately, when the economy is flourishing, there are opportunities, that is when investments come. Currently, our domestic investors themselves are not willing to invest. How can we expect foreign investment? Currently businesses are only able to operate at 30-40 percent capacity. How can new investments be driven under such circumstances? 

Visa might be causing some trouble at the moment for foreign investors because it is only issued for a year and there are some complications for visa issuance to investors’ families. Apart from that, there is no major issue in terms of our laws in attracting FDI. It is simply that the economy needs improvement and the investors need  to see opportunities. Such as in hydropower, opportunities can be seen, like exporting 10,000 MW. Tourism is also seeing some small investments but no major ones, perhaps because there are two international airports but they are not able to operate. Policies also need to be right.

According to your personal forecast, what is the future outlook for our economy?

We see the future as bright. Because we are in so many problems, there are as many possibilities. Chaos creates opportunities. Therefore, there are a lot of opportunities here. As I said before, political stability, bureaucratic stability, and policies need improvement. After that, there should be no problems. There are so many opportunities in infrastructures, and hydropower. There is so much untapped potential in the tourism sector. We have a big market with our neighboring countries which creates huge possibilities for production and trade. Education sector also has a lot of opportunities. If we can establish good universities and modernize our education system, we can develop the sector. Health tourism also has a lot of potential because healthcare is affordable here. In agriculture as well, there are opportunities. We need to go into commercial farming. If the policies can be fixed, there is a lot of scope in many sectors in Nepal. 

The price of gold has increased by Rs 400 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 150, 100 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 149, 700 per tola on Sunday.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,865 per tola today. 

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Nepal organized the 2024 Korea-Nepal Agriculture Cooperation Seminar in Kathmandu on Sunday to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Republic of Korea and Nepal.

Nepal and South Korea signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the agricultural sector on November 2, 2023.

The South Korean Embassy said the memorandum of understanding is aimed at advancing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of agricultural science and technology, agriculture and livestock production and agricultural processing and production.

Nepal Agricultural Research Council and Korea Agricultural Research Council can now advance research activities in the field of agricultural sector. Delegation from KOPIA Division, Rural Development Administration from Korea visiting Nepal and attending the seminar and expressing their views to establish KOPIA Center in Nepal.

Speaking at the program, Korean Ambassador to Nepal Park Taeyoung said that “It is my great pleasure to join you today at this important seminar on agriculture, co-organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Government of Nepal. This event comes at a significant moment as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Nepal.”

“Over the past decades, agriculture has been a cornerstone of our cooperation, reflecting our shared commitment to the prosperity of rural communities and sustainable development. This year, to commemorate our 50 years of friendship, Korea has established a ‘Korea-Nepal Model Dairy village in Kamalamai Municipality, Sindhuli District and launched various ODA projects aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods,” he said, according to the statement.

He went on to say that the collaboration between Nepal and Korea has been further strengthened by the active engagement of organizations like KOICA, which has worked closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. Through initiatives such as increasing incomes in rural areas, developing the value chain of fruit and vegetable, and supporting rural development, KOICA Nepal Office has been a vital partner in driving meaningful change.

He shared that they are planning to initiate technical research and provide support through the KOPIA (Korea Partnership for Innovation of Agriculture) project from Rural Development Administration of Korea to improve the productivity of rice and potatoes which are essential crops in Nepal.

These two agencies—KOICA and KOPIA—will create synergies together and continue to be instrumental in our efforts to modernize agriculture, enhance food security, and uplift rural communities in Nepal.

The Government of the Republic of Korea is committed to deepening their agricultural partnership by sharing expertise, technology, and resources, he said.

“Together, we can achieve our shared vision of resilient and sustainable agricultural systems, ensuring prosperity for generations to come.”

Humla district has received snowfall for the first time this year.

The snowfall started last night after changes in weather conditions.

As of this morning, snow measuring three inches has piled up in the district headquarters, Simikot, while a foot of snow is covering Limi and other areas located in the higher parts of north Namkha Rural Municipality, said Log Bohara, who works at Limi health post.

The farmers here are euphoric even with late snowfall in the district this year. The local residents believe that the weather will improve after the snowfall.

The farmers of the district are happy, hoping the snowfall will also augur well to the cultivation of wheat, barley and lice.

The snowfall has affected normal life in district headquarters Simikot and surrounding hills.

Normal life has been affected in Chala, Limi, Hilsa and Yari areas of north Namkha.

The temperature has already dropped to minus in Humla.