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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 28. 68 points to close at 1,972. 09 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 4. 79 points to close at 351. 65 points.

A total of 7,446,991-unit shares of 309 companies were traded for Rs 2. 59 billion.

Meanwhile, Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) Limited (BNL) was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Joshi Hydropower Development Company Ltd (JOSHI) was the top loser as its price fell by 10. 00 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 09 trillion.

Victims of cooperatives, microcredit institutions, and loan sharks have not been able to get justice despite organizing repeated protests.

When the victims launch protests, the government agrees to meet their demands. However, these agreements are not implemented. This series of neglect has been going on for years, the victims say. 

Cooperative, microfinance and landshark victims are presently in Kathmandu to draw the attention of the government to implement past agreements.

Cooperative victims have been participating in a sit-in protest on the premises of the Department of Cooperatives for the past 10 days. Earlier, they launched the protest in the first week of August. The government reached a seven-point agreement with the victims on the same day. “But since the government didn’t implement the agreement reached seven months ago, we were forced to take to the streets again,” Harish Chandra Shrestha, coordinator of Cooperative Depositors Protection National Campaign, said.

Although the government had formed a task force to study the agreement and make suggestions for its implementation, the victims say the task force's report has been gathering dust at the Office of the Prime Minister.

The government had agreed with the cooperatives to immediately initiate the process of setting up a Deposit and Credit Protection Fund. It had also agreed to work in coordination with the Troubled Cooperatives Management Committee to prepare a work plan to return deposits parked in troubled cooperatives like Oriental Cooperatives. Likewise, the government had agreed to establish a Credit Information Center and a Credit Recovery Tribunal.

There are more than 32,000 cooperatives in the country with more than 7.3m members. Out of these cooperatives, around 500 are in trouble. Of them, 17 have been declared as troubled.

According to the Troubled Cooperatives Management Committee, deposits worth Rs 13.14bn of 28,272 are parked in 15 out of these 17 troubled cooperatives.

“Declaring cooperatives as troubled alone is insufficient. The government should return common people’s deposits and interest. The government can recover that amount from the cooperative promoters later on,” Shrestha added.

Over 1.4m victims have already become members of the national campaign, Shrestha said. These victims have deposits ranging from a few thousand rupees to Rs 320m in these cooperatives. The total liability of these cooperatives is around Rs 65bn. Each of these cooperatives has a minimum of 5,000 members.

A study conducted recently by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) showed cooperatives may have been used for money laundering. Coordinator Shrestha also doesn’t rule this out. “But the number could be very low,” he added.

Shrestha, who sold four anas of land to deposit money in Oriental Cooperatives, said the government had agreed to return 40 percent of depositors’ money from its funds and make the promoters pay the remaining 60 percent. “But not a single agreement was implemented. That is why we had to relaunch the protest,” Shrestha added.

Creditors of microfinance institutions have also been protesting against the government. Over 180,000 creditors of microfinance institutions have joined the Struggle Committee against Microcredit Institutions. About 8,000 of them have taken to the streets, according to Maniram Gyawali, chairman of the campaign.

Microfinance creditors first took to the streets in Gulmi two years ago. Some of the victims even launched a fast-unto-death protest in Kathmandu in August last year. The government had then formed a talks team under Bhupal Baral, the joint secretary of the finance ministry, to hold talks with the microfinance creditors. The committee also formed its talks team under Ramesh Tamang. The two sides held four rounds of meetings. However, the talks failed after the victims complained that the central bank was not sending its representatives to the meeting.

This time, they marched all the way to Kathmandu from Mugling of Chitwan and continued their street protest at Siphal grounds. They even managed to enter the federal parliament premises a few days ago.

Committee chairman Gyawali said they have taken to the streets because microcredit institutions were flouting the central bank’s regulations and levying high-interest rates. “Since microcredit institutions have become unsuccessful in Nepal, we want the government to scrap them,” he added. Gyawali said while microcredit institutions are becoming successful elsewhere, they have failed in Nepal. “70 percent of the total creditors of microfinance institutions in Nepal are not in a position to repay their loans,” he added.

Loan waiver and unfreezing of property pledged as collateral are among the nine-point demands placed by the microcredit creditors.

According to the central bank, three out of 57 microcredit institutions in the country are wholesale lenders.  These microcredit institutions have mobilized Rs 167.64bn in deposits and invested Rs 175.83bn in loans. About 7.49 percent of total lending, or Rs 28.89bn, is non-performing loans.

Minister for Finance Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said that the government is serious about the demands of microfinance victims. Mahat also said that all those who have abused microfinance should be brought under the ambit of legal action and the borrowers should also fulfill their obligations.

It has been eight years since loan shark victims first started their protest. The problem, however, still remains unsolved.

The inquiry commission that the government formed last year failed to settle all the problems of the victims. As a result, thousands of victims from all over the country walked all the way to Kathmandu earlier this week for their protest.

Victims said the commission that the government formed earlier has failed to provide justice to all the victims.

The commission collected over 28,000 complaints from the victims. It settled 5,188 of the complaints. Remaining 22,812 are still awaiting decisions on their complaints. Likewise, victims say complaints of over 70,000 victims have yet to be registered.

Avadesh Kushbaha, chairman of a struggle committee formed by the victims, said 92,812 loan shark victims across the country are still awaiting justice.

Loan shark victims have termed the work of the commission as ritualistic. “It collected complaints of about 28,000 victims only. People in rural areas couldn’t register complaints because they didn’t get information,” Jha said. “Only around 5,000 applicants got justice. Others are still awaiting justice.”

After studying the complaints, the commission calculated that the transactions between loan sharks and victims were worth around Rs 5.57bn. The loan sharks have been claiming that they are still to recover Rs 7.62bn extended as loans.

The commission succeeded in unfreezing 218 bigha, 10 kattha, and 7 dhur of land pledged as collateral to loan sharks by the lenders. The commission said in its report that 793 land plots have been returned to victims.

The commission submitted its report to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Nov 12. Dahal subsequently handed over the report for implementation to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs. The commission has said in its report that its implementation could be done by district administration offices by forming a dedicated unit. But the report has been gathering dust at the home ministry.

Home ministry spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said the ministry has handed over the commission’s report to the police for implementation by preparing a new work procedure. “There are rooms for discussions and reconciliations. Works are underway in different districts,” he claimed.

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

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 118, 400 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 118, 200 per tola on Wednesday.

Similarly, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 117, 850 per tola. It was traded at Rs 117, 650 per tola.

Meanwhile, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,375 per tola today.

The government is aligning the budget for the fiscal year 2024/25 with the policies outlined in the 16th National Plan, the strategy set for graduation to a developing country in 2026, the sustainable development goals 2030, and the need to create a basis for sustainable and comprehensive economic growth.

Presenting the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Minister for Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the upcoming budget will primarily focus on bolstering production and productivity through increased public spending on prioritized projects.

Pre-budget discussions have begun in the House of Representatives three months ahead of the budget day, scheduled for May 28, this year. Earlier, the government used to table the principles and priorities of the appropriation bill 15 days prior to the budget day. The government amended the provision by bringing an ordinance.

The government is putting focus on strengthening the financial sector. Minister Mahat, in the principles and priorities document, has expressed commitment to enhance the efficacy of regulation and supervision in the financial sector, with the aim of developing a robust, competitive, and dependable financial landscape. Additionally, the government has promised to enhance the professionalism of regulatory bodies overseeing banks, financial institutions, microfinance, insurance, and the share market, while also prioritizing transparency and accountability.

The budget principles revolve around sustainable and inclusive economic growth, balanced public finance, efficient budgetary allocation, social sector development, social justice, private sector promotion, federalism, good governance, sustainable development, and climate change.

Moreover, the government has identified hydropower development, modernization and commercialization of agriculture, development of tourism and IT sector, infrastructure development, social sector upliftment, green development, disaster management, harnessing demographic dividends and youth mobilization, strengthening of the financial sector, upholding the rule of law, and fostering international cooperation and relations are the priorities of the government.

Speaking in the House of Representatives, Minister Mahat said that the new budget will prioritize high growth rate while maintaining macroeconomic stability and enhancing the living standards of citizens. “The budget will be tailored to elevate the country’s economy to the standards of the global economy and improve the livelihoods of those struggling to meet their basic needs,” Mahat added. He insisted that the country's economy is moving in a positive direction. 

“The increase in electricity generation and tourist numbers as well as the rise in foreign investment have contributed positively to the economy. There is sufficient liquidity in the banking sector and the interest rate is falling towards single digit,” Mahat said. “Although the revenue collection is not as per the target, the growth rate is around 10 percent. I am confident that it will increase further in the coming days.”

Furthermore, the budget will focus on mobilizing government resources for sustainable and inclusive economic growth, channeling investments into critical public infrastructure sectors such as energy, agriculture, tourism, and information technology. Efforts will also be directed towards facilitating private sector investment to stimulate production, productivity, and job creation domestically.

To ensure the efficient allocation of public expenditure, the government has said that it will prioritize projects based on pre-assessment and completion criteria and ensure that priority projects won’t face dearth of resources. 

Moreover, the government has said in the policies and priorities document that it would increase revenue mobilization through business and investment-friendly taxation policies and allocating public resources towards service delivery, socio-economic infrastructure development, and human capital enhancement. Likewise, the government has said that it would eliminate duplication in subsidies and benefits by focusing resources on target groups, while also implementing necessary policy, legal, and institutional reforms to foster a conducive environment for domestic and foreign investors, notably through the Nepal Investment Summit scheduled for April 2024.

Furthermore, the government has said that it would streamline public service delivery, making it more citizen-friendly and aligned with federal norms and values. Likewise, it plans to focus on increasing electricity generation through domestic and foreign investments, thus promoting a green economy by boosting domestic electricity consumption.

The government said in the policies and priorities document that it would develop Nepal as a premier tourism destination by resolving operational obstacles at Pokhara and Bhairahawa airports, initiating the construction of Nijgadh International Airport, and ensuring timely completion of strategic projects such as the Kathmandu Tarai Madhes Expressway and crucial highways. Likewise, the government has said that it remains committed to advancing the health insurance program, promoting youth-centric entrepreneurship, and fostering domestic employment opportunities to mitigate the need for youth migration abroad for employment.