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Nepali Ambassador to Switzerland Ram Prasad Subedi presented a letter of credence to Swiss President Viola Amherd amidst a special ceremony organized at the Federal Palace in Bern, Switzerland.

Upon arrival at the Palace, the Ambassador was accorded Guard of Honour.

Ambassador Subedi was granted an audience by the President Amherd where he conveyed greetings and best wishes from the President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to the Swiss President’s personal health and happiness as well as for the continued peace, progress and prosperity of the people of Switzerland, reads a statement issued by the Embassy of Nepal in Geneva on Tuesday.

While underscoring the excellent bilateral relations between Nepal and Switzerland, Ambassador Subedi expressed his commitment to work towards further strengthening bilateral ties and expanding the areas of cooperation. He further elaborated about the opportunities to work together in the areas of trade, tourism and investment. He also acknowledged the Swiss support through Swiss Development Cooperation in Nepal, including in the peace process.

President Amherd while echoing the similar sentiments stated that Nepal and Switzerland enjoy long standing friendly relations and reaffirmed the strong bonds of goodwill and friendship between the two peoples, and assured the Ambassador of full cooperation in the discharge of his duties, according to the statement.

Senior officials of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs as well as spouse Jyoti Rijal Subedi, Deputy Chief of Mission Paras Pandit and First Secretary Amar Rai were present on the occasion.

Later in the evening, Ambassador Subedi called on Alexandre Fasel, State Secretary of Swiss Confederation at the Federal Palace in Bern.

They discussed exploring the opportunities for working together for the meeting of high-level political leaders, holding regular meetings of bilateral consultation mechanisms, promoting economic cooperation and cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts.

The government has formed a committee to probe the issues of power tariff dues related to dedicated and trunk line services. Former Supreme Court Justice Girish Chandra Lal will lead the probe panel.

A Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday formed the committee under the headship of Supreme Court Justice Girish Chandra Lal.

The cabinet meeting has also directed the line agencies to ensure power supply in the industries whose power supply was cut off due to the long pending dues.

Similarly, the Council of Ministers appointed 25 persons in the National Development Council.

The appointees come from amongst the representatives of the District Coordination Committees (DDCs), local governments and other agencies.

Likewise, the government has decided to announce martyrs to different persons whose names were missed in the Nepal Gazette in the past and made corrections to the list of martyrs announced on different dates.

Furthermore, the cabinet approved the resignation tendered by Chairperson of Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) Purushottam Khanal.

The government has decided to appoint NTA Board of Directors Nabaraj Adhikari as the NTA Chairman until next decision as per the Rule 3 (A) of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority Regulations, according to the PM's secretariat.

A panel has been formed under the leadership of the Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology for the appointment of the new NTA Chair.

Families of security personnel who lost their lives in the course of the decade-long armed conflict in the country met with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal today, urging him to address their legitimate concerns regarding transitional justice.

During the meeting, they expressed their support to proceed with the Transitional Justice Bill which is presently under consideration in the Parliament.

They said they are positive towards the Bill as it equally treats those killed by the State and rebel side during the conflict.

On behalf of the conflict-affected families of security personnel, Rita Karki expressed her hope that the incumbent government will profoundly feel the pains of the conflict-hit community and address their concerns regarding transitional justice.

In response, Prime Minister Dahal assured the families that the Bill does not differentiate between the families of those killed by the State and rebel sides during the conflict.

He pledged that there will be no discrimination on these grounds in the future as well.

The Prime Minister promised to revise the Bill to accommodate the interests of all affected families as much as possible.  

A breast-feeding room has been set up on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple.

Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sushila Sirpali Thakuri, inaugurated the breastfeeding room today. The facility, established by the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), has come into operation from today.

On the occasion, Minister of State Thakuri appreciated the establishment of the facility facilitating breastfeeding in a hygienic environment. She said operation of the breastfeeding room in the Pashupatinath Temple precincts will give a positive message to devotees coming from within the county and abroad.

PADT Executive Director Laxmi Pun said that breastfeeding mothers visiting the Temple with their infant children have now been freed of the compulsion of breastfeeding their child on the pavement, the office of security personnel and outdoors for lack of breastfeeding room.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has issued a directive not to collect the fees increased by the Ministry of Labor and Employment from the workers.

He made such a directive during a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office in Singha Durbar on Tuesday.

During the meeting with the minister, secretary and other government employees this afternoon, Prime Minister Dahal recalled that the Nepalis who have gone abroad in search of green pastures have made a significant contribution in the country’s economy.

He directed the concerned authority not to implement the decision of the Ministry to put extra financial burden on them.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister issued a directive to make arrangements to issue labor permits again from all the 753 local units.

Nepal Telecommunication Authority Chairman Purushottam Khanal has resigned from his post on Tuesday.

Khanal tendered his resignation after he was accused of being involved in the irregularities in the purchase of systems such as Mobile Device Management System (MDMS) and Teramocs among others.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma was dissatisfied with the working style of Khanal recently.

Minister Sharma had even asked for clarification after he was accused of being involved in irregularities.

Khanal resigned from his post after Minister Sharma was preparing to sack him in the Cabinet meeting.

The Prime Minister’s Office had summoned him on Monday for a discussion.

During the discussion, the Prime Minister’s secretary objected to his working style.

The Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament has also directed the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority to carry out an investigation into the process of purchasing Teramocs technology.

Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) are awash with cash. Although the lending capacity of BFIs has increased, demand for loans has dropped. Recognizing excessive liquidity in the banking system, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has absorbed Rs 180bn from the banking system through various monetary instruments since mid-December.

Additionally, the central bank has been working to maintain inter-bank lending rates within the prescribed limit. Although the central bank had previously stated that it would prevent inter-bank lending rates from falling below three percent, these rates have, in fact, dipped below three percent for some time. In March of the previous year, the inter-bank lending rate had surged to as high as 7-8 percent due to a tight liquidity situation.

“After the inter-bank rate fell below the prescribed limit, we absorbed liquidity from the system through deposit auctions. This action helped the interbank lending rates to go above the limit on Jan 3 and 4,” explained NRB Spokesperson Dr Gunakar Bhatta. “Banks currently hold liquidity of around Rs 100bn, excluding the four percent cash reserve ratio that they are required to maintain.”

One of the contributing factors to the increasing liquidity in the banking system is the drop in imports. The demand for credit from other sectors is also not satisfactory, Dr Bhatta added.

Commercial banks, development banks, and financial institutions collectively have a credit extension capacity of Rs 433bn. The total deposits of BFIs have risen to Rs 6.06trn, with Class ‘A’ banks alone holding deposits amounting to Rs 5.37trn. Development banks and financial institutions have mobilized Rs 696bn in deposits. According to the central bank, banks are reporting an annual deposit growth of Rs 500bn. However, their lending capacity has not seen a corresponding increase.

BFIs have invested around Rs 5.02trn, with the investment of commercial banks alone reaching approximately Rs 4.44trn. Similarly, development banks and financial institutions have extended credit amounting to an additional Rs 582bn.

Bankers acknowledge that banks have not been able to invest as much as they wanted. “Banks are finding themselves awash with loanable funds also because the working capital policy prohibits them from extending new loans in the final month of the quarter,” Nepal Bankers Association (NBA) President Sunil KC said. “As banks prioritize the recovery of old loans over new investments in the last month, the size of loanable funds has consequently expanded.”

Private sector leaders say that businesses are struggling to meet their existing obligations, let alone secure new credit. Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said the private sector was seeing a 20-30 percent decline in both production and sales. “This has made loan servicing difficult for businesses,” Dhakal said. “Businesses are hesitant to seek new credit also due to uncertainties about policy stability in the coming days.”

Dhakal, however, said he was hopeful of positive upturn in the coming days. “With the gradual fall in interest rates, confidence is expected to be restored among both the private sector and general consumers. The recent policy decisions of the central bank are favorable. The government has also expressed commitment to settle outstanding dues and expedite capital spending,” Dhakal added. A recent survey conducted by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) reveals that the overall demand has declined. “Industrial raw material prices are rising, but their import is falling,” the CNI survey report stated.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has announced a five-year installment facility for the payment of electricity tariff dues related to dedicated and trunk line services.

In a public notice issued today, the NEA has urged relevant entities to submit applications for installment facilities at the respective NEA distribution centers within the next 30 days.

Following a decision made during the January 1 meeting of the NEA Board of Directors, industries are now eligible for a one-time installment facility to settle their dues associated with dedicated and trunk line services.

The NEA has taken this step, in response to the accumulated electricity dues from 61 industries, amounting to Rs 22.24 billion.

Consequently, power supply to 24 industries has been disconnected.