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As the country grapples with the economic slowdown, the insurance business has taken a beating in the current fiscal year. Both life and non-life insurance business grew in single digits in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. After a double- digit growth in previous years, the insurance business (life and non-life) grew by a meager 2.66 percent in the first nine months of the FY 2022/23 compared to a growth of 12.29 percent in the same period of the FY 2021/22. Nepal Insurance Authority(NIA)  statistics show  life and non-life companies collected insurance premiums totaling Rs 134.74bn in the first nine months of the FY 2022/23 which was Rs 131.24bn in the corresponding period of the FY 2021/22. The total insurance premiums increased by only Rs 3.50bn in this fiscal year. According to NIA, life insurance companies collected premiums amounting to Rs 104.73bn in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, while it was Rs 30bn for non-life insurance companies. The premium collection of life insurance companies during the same period of the last fiscal stood at Rs 102.54bn and non-life insurance companies at Rs 28.70bn. According to NIA Executive Director Raju Raman Poudel, the ongoing economic slowdown has affected the insurance business. “Insurance business is facing challenges due to the high-interest rates, liquidity crunch, and rising inflation. These factors have reduced the common people’s purchasing power,” he said. According to CEOs of insurance companies, insurance premiums of large amounts are generally paid by borrowing money from banks. As banks are struggling with a liquidity crunch, borrowing from them has become difficult in this fiscal year and customers have not been able to pay the premiums. “As a result, there has been a big decline in the growth rate of the insurance business,” they said. Insurers say that the rise in the non-renewal and surrendering of insurance policies is dragging the business down. “Currently, we are seeing surrender of life insurance policies in large numbers,” said the CEO of a leading insurance company. Among the life insurance companies, Nepal Life Insurance Company (NLIC) has collected the highest premium. The NLIC has collected insurance premiums worth Rs 27.26bn followed by LIC Nepal with Rs 12. 94bn and National Life Insurance with Rs 11.37bn. Similarly, Shikhar Insurance is in the leading position in the non-life sector. The company has collected insurance premiums worth Rs 4.15bn, followed by Sagarmatha Lumbini Insurance with Rs 3.48bn and Siddhartha Premier Insurance with Rs 3.35bn.

Nepal is planning to take forward the proposal to invite the Bangladeshi private sector for investment in hydropower development. The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation is planning to present the proposal at the fifth meeting of the joint-secretary-level Joint Working Group and secretary-level Joint Steering Committee meetings to be held on May 15-16 in Dhaka. An official at the Energy Ministry said the ministry was also selecting the projects that Bangladeshi investors may find good. Bangladesh has been showing interest in developing hydropower projects in Nepal on a joint-venture model. It has already agreed to invest in the 683 MW Sunkosi-3 Hydropower Project. Accordingly, Nepal has sent the feasibility study and environmental impact assessment reports of the project to Bangladesh. The upcoming meeting will further discuss the project's construction modality. The Dhaka meeting will also discuss trilateral cooperation among Nepal, Bangladesh, and India for electricity export from Nepal to Bangladesh via the Indian transmission line. It’s been a year since talks for electricity exports from Nepal to Bangladesh gained momentum. Nepal's quest for finding a market for its electricity beyond India was further emboldened after Bangladesh expressed readiness to import 40-50 MW of power from Nepal during the energy secretary-level JSC meeting of the two countries held in Kathmandu in the last week of August last year. At the recently concluded Nepal-India Energy Secretary Talk, India agreed to facilitate power export from Nepal to Bangladesh. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has planned to export electricity from the Likhu-4 Hydropower Project to Bangladesh and sent the proposal to India for approval. The Energy Ministry official said a power trade agreement (PTA) proposal will also be proposed in the upcoming meeting. “We are planning to export 40-50 MW of electricity to Bangladesh in the upcoming season. But since the two countries are yet to sign a PTA, we will propose a PTA in the next meeting.” In August 2018, Nepal and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the energy sector. The agreement also facilitated the creation of a Joint Working Group (JWG) and a Joint Steering Committee (JSC). Officials said the construction of a dedicated cross-border transmission line between Nepal and Bangladesh will also feature in the meeting. They said while Nepal will use the Indian transmission infrastructure to export power to Bangladesh for now, a dedicated transmission line will be required in the long run. After the last JSC meeting in August 2022, Nepal and Bangladesh also agreed to take initiatives to reach a tripartite agreement between Nepal, Bangladesh, and India to set up a dedicated transmission line between Nepal and Bangladesh using the Indian territory.  

The price of gold has increased by Rs 300 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 110, 900 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 103, 500 per tola on Sunday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 110, 350 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,445 per tola today.

Poco Nepal has announced a temporary price drop on the POCO M5 from May 4-15 in Nepal. The POCO M5 is a powerful smartphone that comes with a 6.58-inch 90Hz FHD+ display, a powerful 6nm MediaTek Helio G99 processor, and a 5000mAh long-lasting battery. It also features a triple-camera setup on the back, with a 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The phone is equipped with a 5-megapixel selfie camera on the front. "We understand that customers are looking for high-quality smartphones at affordable prices, and we believe that this offer will provide an excellent opportunity for them to get their hands on the performance-centric model at an unbeatable price,” said Amit Kumar Panda, the Country General Manager, POCO Nepal. The POCO M5 will come in three colors -black, green, and yellow and available in two storage variants - 4GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB. The 4GB+64GB variants will be available at Rs 19,999 while 6GB+128GB at Rs 22,999.