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The government on Thursday inked a seven-point agreement with an organization representing the depositors, who have been staging a protest as part of their long struggle to get their savings back from different cooperatives.

The deal that led to suspension of the ongoing protest came at a meeting between the victims of cooperatives, Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Ranjita Shrestha Chaudhary, Secretary Gokarnamani Duwadi, Registrar at the Cooperatives Department Namaraj Ghimire at Singhadurbar.  

“The meeting agreed to set up a savings and credit protection fund to ensure that the depositors get their money back,” said Prakash Joshi, spokesperson at the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation.

As part of the deal, the ministry has pledged to establish a credit information center and a credit recovery tribunal to speed up the deposit recovery process.

Per the deal, the ministry will coordinate with problematic cooperatives such as Oriental through their management committees to form a clear action plan and ensure its implementation for repayment of the depositors’ funds.

The two sides also agreed to protect the interests of depositors through the Cooperative Reform Suggestion Taskforce, formed by the Council of Ministers to give suggestions for reforms in the cooperative sector, by including a maximum of three representatives from among the victims, including those taking part in protest, as the taskforce’s invitee members.

“The minister has promised to meet our major demand—the repayment of our principal with interest,” said Harish Chandra Shrestha, coordinator of a federation representing the depositors defrauded by cooperatives.

Earlier in the day, the victims staged a demonstration at Bijulibazaar demanding that the government ensure the return of their savings with interest and pay them from the state coffers if the cooperatives fail to do so. Police stopped the demonstrators at Bijulibazaar Bridge while they were on their way to New Baneshwor for staging a protest outside the Parliament building.

The cooperatives had lured the depositors by promising high interest rates, only to deny them even the principal citing a liquidity crisis. The victims have been making rounds of government offices in their desperate bid to get their savings back through government intervention.

Earlier, an interim report of the Cooperative Problem Solving Suggestion Taskforce was handed over to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The interim report includes a 26-point suggestion on ways to handle problems plaguing the cooperatives across the country.

The report has suggested a number of measures including early establishment of a savings protection fund for the protection of depositors’ savings, a halt in the registration of new cooperatives and proper regulation of those currently operating.

The gold is being traded at Rs 112, 200 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 650 per tola.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,425 per tola today.

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has agreed to provide a refinancing facility to hydropower projects damaged by the recent floods. After a tripartite discussion between Independent Power Producers Association, Nepal (IPPAN), Nepal Bankers Association (NBA), and the NRB on Tuesday, the central bank agreed to refinance the flood-hit hydropower projects throughout the construction period.

During the meeting, IPPAN Chairman Ganesh Karki urged the central bank for refinancing, interest capitalization, and loan restructuring for flood-damaged projects. As some of the flood-hit hydropower projects’ whose required commercial operation date (RCOD) has been exceeded are facing pressure from the bank to pay back the loans, Karki  requested the NRB for an arrangement not to stop the dividend distribution of banks even if the interest of the hydropower project is capitalized.

As per the recent directive issued by the NRB,  banks can show interest income as profit in the investments made on hydropower projects until they begin commercial operation, but such profit cannot be distributed. While restructuring such loans, banks have to do provisioning of 12.5 percent of the total loan amount. Stating that banks are reluctant to lend in hydropower projects due to this provision, IPPAN urged the central bank to allow them (banks) to distribute dividends from the profits made from interest capitalization. 

The NRB Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra said that the central bank is ready to provide refinance facilities for the flood-damaged hydropower projects throughout the reconstruction period. “The central bank is ready to facilitate the issues of interest capitalization and loan restructuring,” said Mishra. 

Mishra, however, said that the promoters should also invest some funds for the reconstruction of the flood-damaged projects, not just relying on the NRB and banks. “Whether it is by giving the right shares or through other options, the promoter must also invest some money. The rest of the amount will be provided by the central bank and commercial banks,” said Mishra. 

Mishra asked the bankers to facilitate interest capitalization and restructuring of the loans as per the addition of RCOD by the Nepal Electricity Authority. According to Mishra, the central bank will provide necessary Deputy Governor Mishra said that IPPAN should recommend the names of flood-damaged projects, based on which the central bank will provide concessions including refinance facilities. The refinancing will be given for one year, according to Mishra. 

Around three dozen hydropower projects were badly hit by the June 16-17 flood that hit Eastern Nepal. The rain and flood of June 16-17 in four districts damaged 30 hydropower projects creating a loss of Rs 8.5bn. A preliminary study carried out by the IPPAN showed that 30 hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 463 MW were damaged by the floods in Taplejung, Panchthar, Sankhuwasabha, and Bhojpur districts. 

According to IPPAN, of the 30 projects, 17 were under-construction projects. Among the projects that were already operating, the Lower Hewa Khola sustained the biggest loss. The 22.1 MW project has been the worst hit; it suffered a loss of Rs 1bn due to the flood.The IPPAN claimed that the 25 MW Kabeli B-1 Project suffered damage of Rs 500m. In terms of damage to physical infrastructure, the 4.7 MW Upper Piluwa-2 Hydropower Project has been the worst hit. 

According to the IPPAN, 17 under-construction hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 327 MW suffered losses of over Rs 2bn due to floods. Among the under-construction projects, the most damage was seen in the Super Hewa Khola Project with estimated losses of Rs 800m. 

The construction work of the Super Hewa Khola Project was 90 percent completed before the flood hit it badly. 

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 3. 00 points to close at 2,089.84 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1.25 points to close at 399. 54 points.

A total of 5,130,520-unit shares of 262 companies were traded for Rs 1. 78 billion.

Meanwhile, Support Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and NIBL Growth Fund were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Similarly, Progressive Finance Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 5.19 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 07 trillion.