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The gold is being traded at Rs 115, 900 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 115, 350 per tola.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,415 per tola today.  

A memorandum of understanding has been signed between Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) to formulate the comprehensive economic policy and enhance the industrial and business environment.

In the presence of Governor of the central bank Maha Prasad Adhikari and the FNCCI President Chandra Prasad Dhakal, the MoU was signed by Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha, executive director of the bank's research department, and the FNCCI Director-General Gokarna Raj Awasthi amid a function here today.

According to the agreement, the bank and FNCCI will conduct a fact-based study on various issues. On the occasion, saying that the agreement had created an opportunity for the two institutions to go ahead hand-in-hand, Governor Adhikari expressed the hope that it would help increase the participation of the private sector in policy-making in the days to come.

Similarly, thanking the central bank for its cooperation with the private sector, the FNCCI President Dhakal offered his confidence that the MoU would help in formulating a reality-based policy in the future apart from helping disseminate right information.

According to the MoU, the FNCCI and member organizations will provide required information for the bank to carry out a study while the bank is required to provide required technical assistance for the FNCCI to conduct a study.

Joint research will also be carried out in need.

A facilitation cell will be created to implement the agreement that will be valid for five years.

Rastra Bank Deputy Governor Dr Nilam Dhungana, the FNCCI senior vice president Anjan Shrestha, and vice presidents Surkrishna Baidhya, Hemraj Dhakal and Jyotsana Shrestha among others were present on the occasion.

Nepal recorded a significant tourism milestone in October, as it welcomed 117,306 foreign tourists by air, marking the highest monthly arrivals since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. This brings the total tourist arrivals in Nepal for the year to over 800,000.

 The arrival figures so far this year shows that Nepal’s tourist numbers will be near the pre-covid levels this year. Nepal welcomed 1.19m foreign tourists via air in 2019 before the covid pandemic hit the tourism industry out of gear throughout the world.

International tourism has continued to recover from the worst crisis in its history as arrival numbers reached 84 percent of pre-pandemic levels between Jan and July 2023, according to the latest data from UNWTO.

October’s remarkable performance outstripped the total foreign tourist count for Oct 2019, when Nepal hosted 113,816 visitors. In stark contrast, Oct 2022 saw only 52,121 foreign tourists visiting Nepal.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Europe emerged as the largest source market for Nepal in October, contributing 36,653 arrivals. However, this figure represents an 8.2 percent decrease compared to the arrival numbers for the same month in 2019 when Nepal welcomed 39,941 European tourists.

Arrivals from the SAARC region saw a remarkable increase of 37.4 percent in October compared to Oct 2019. Nepal received 26,772 visitors in October, compared to 19,455 in the same month four years ago. Conversely, arrivals from other Asian nations in October declined when compared to the same month in 2019, with Nepal receiving 16,084 tourists from Asian nations, as opposed to 22,267 in Oct 2019.

In October, arrivals from Oceania and the Americas showed improvements compared to October 2019, but arrivals from the Middle East declined by more than 50 percent, with only 1,043 tourists compared to 2,122 four years ago.

India remained the largest source market for Nepal in October, contributing 18,480 visitors, followed by the United States with 14,879, the United Kingdom with 8,219, China with 6,880, Australia with 6,075, Germany with 5,916, France with 5,271, and Bangladesh with 4,292 visitors.

The autumn season, which spans from September to December, is considered Nepal’s peak tourist season, as trekkers get to savor the best views after the monsoon rains. In the first ten months of 2023, Nepal has welcomed a total of 809,372 tourists via air. The highest influx of tourists was recorded in October, with 117,306 foreign tourists, while the lowest was in July, with 57,726 arrivals.

Nepal government and the World Bank today exchanged the digitally-signed financing agreements for a $100m concessional loan from the International Development Association and a $3.84m grant from the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Trust Fund to strengthen the quality, coverage, and resilience of Nepal’s health system. 

These agreements were digitally signed on 27 Oct 2023. This is the first World Bank-financed project in Nepal that was digitally signed. The agreements for the Nepal Quality Health Systems Program Operation were signed by Finance Secretary, Krishna Hari Pushkar and the World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos.

The agreements were exchanged in the presence of Honorable Minister of Finance, Prakash Sharan Mahat, World Bank Managing Director for Operations, Anna Bjerde, and World Bank Vice-president for South Asia, Martin Raiser. The program will be implemented by the Ministry of Health and Population in coordination with the Health Insurance Board at the federal level, and selected provincial and local levels in Koshi and Gandaki provinces.

The program emphasizes improving the readiness of the health system for delivery of quality healthcare, enhancing coverage of health insurance, and strengthening health emergency preparedness and response capacity at the selected provincial and local levels.

“Quality healthcare serves as the cornerstone of human capital development. The comprehensive reform agenda set forth by the Nepal Quality Health Systems Program Operation will be pivotal in enhancing access to high-quality healthcare services,” said Krishna Hari Pushkar, Finance Secretary.

“We are committed to work with the government to build a resilient and inclusive public health system in Nepal that protects vulnerable populations and contributes to improved productivity and strong human capital development, which is fundamental to sustainable economic growth,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.