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Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has unveiled the Cryptocurrency Risk Assessment Report today. In the report, the country's central bank has concluded that cryptocurrency cannot be brought into use as transaction in it would be financially risky. Cryptocurrency transactions are banned by the existing laws of Nepal. "It entails risks as investment in cryptocurrency results in capital flight since the investment is in foreign land, it might have adverse impact on remittance flow and create challenges in managing the foreign exchange reserves," reads the Report. It states that prohibition on cryptocurrency is necessary as it has risks including destabilizing the overall economic balance, risk on financial stability, risk in terms of implementing the monetary policy and risks of fraud and tax evasion, among others. NRB stated that transactions in cryptocurrency brought risk not only to the country but also various risks to people involved in such transactions. The Central Bank has imposed a ban on cryptocurrency as per the provision of Clause 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 2019 BS. People supporting cryptocurrency take it as a form of currency. However, there is no sovereign nation issuing cryptocurrency as in the current monetary system. NRB stated in the Report that there are around 23 thousand cryptocurrencies in use in the world at present and Bitcoin alone occupies 42 percent of its total market. It is also stated that there are about 450 cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The Central Bank has been issuing public notice from time-to-time warning that transaction in cryptocurrency is illegal. "There is no guarantee or surety of any country or government in cryptocurrency, there is no any security and financial intermediary, and it has no other use except for the purpose of bookmaking. This virtual thing is not widely accepted but is issued and used by certain groups for their vested interest," read the Report. NRB has described cryptocurrency as a digital matter that can be transacted as a currency issued by the private sector. Its transaction is illegal in various countries including in Nepal. This virtual currency is issued for carrying out works related to payments without any financial intermediary (central bank or monetary authority issuing currency). Users connected to the network have themselves maintained accounts of the receipt and expenditure of cryptocurrency for carrying out its transaction. In the existing system, the central banks or financial institutions have been conducting this job. People carrying out transactions in cryptocurrency use 'blockchain' or 'distributed ledger' technology for bookkeeping. Cryptocurrency is mainly obtained through mining and purchasing.

As the country's economy goes through a downturn, the cases related to banking offenses have surged in the current fiscal year. From large businesses to small businesses, as well as individuals have been struggling to pay their dues and fulfill financial obligations on time, which according to Nepal Police has resulted in a rise in banking offense cases. According to the data obtained from Nepal Police, 6,483 cases of banking offenses with the amount equal to Rs 8.57bn have been registered till mid-March 2023. The data show there have already been more banking fraud cases registered in the first eight months of FY 2022/23 than in FY 2021/22. According to Nepal Police, a total of 5,416 cases of banking fraud were registered in the last fiscal year. The majority of banking offense cases are related to cheque bounces. In this fiscal also, 99 percent of banking offense cases are of bad cheques. Of the total 6,483 banking fraud cases, 6,422 were related to bad cheques. As per the Banking Offense and Punishment Act, 2008, the non-payment of a written cheque three times due to the account holder’s failure to maintain the amount mentioned on the cheque is counted as a banking offense. The second most registered banking offense cases are of the cooperative institutions where the depositors have been denied to withdraw their deposited money. Experts attribute the rise in banking fraud to the current economic crisis. There has been an interruption in the flow of money in the market due to a prolonged liquidity crunch as well as the slowdown in aggregate demand. In addition, banks and financial institutions' higher interest rates have also hit small businesses hard. Companies and individuals issue cheques of a certain date to settle their business and personal transactions. However, due to the recent downturn in business, the ability of companies and individuals to pay their creditors has weakened. People often issue bad cheques to their creditors to avoid a difficult situation. Nepal Police Spokesperson Poshraj Pokharel said that the number of banking fraud cases has increased due to the recent economic crisis. According to police data, cases related to banking fraud have been increasing every year. There were only 755 banking offense cases registered by the Nepal Police in FY 2017/18 which continued to surge in the next two fiscal years. But there was some decline in the registration of fraud cases in FY 2020/21. However, in the last two years, banking offense cases have again started to increase. Along with the cases, the monetary amount of banking fraud has also surged. Banking offense cases

Finance Minister Prakash Saran Mahat on Monday met with stakeholders of the capital market including the Chairman of the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) and a delegation of stock investors, brokers and merchant bankers to discuss the issues and the ways to resolve the problems. Nevertheless, this initiative of the newly appointed finance minister failed to raise the confidence of weary investors as the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) plunged by 16.67 points on the second trading day of the week. Mahat first met the group of stock investors with whom he assured them of taking concrete steps to uplift the morale of the capital market. Then, he sat down with Sebon Chairman Ramesh Kumar Hamal and instructed him to bring forward concrete plans to reform the capital market. Unlike the appointment of Bishnu Poudel as finance minister in December 2022, the appointment of  Mahat has received a cold response from the stock market so far. The stock market lost 36.67 points in the two trading days after Mahat took charge of the Ministry of Finance. While the new finance minister is trying to bolster the morale of the private sector and stock investors, the stock market is yet to respond positively. The daily turnover also decreased on Monday compared to Sunday. Nepse recorded a daily turnover of Rs 920.24m on Monday against Rs 1.20bn on Sunday. On Monday, the Nepse opened at 1,888.61 points and hit an intraday high of 1,891.76 points before rising to the intraday low of 1,866.16 points and settling at 1,871.88 points. Along with the daily turnover, the number of trade shares also decreased on Monday. The number of shares traded decreased to 2.82m scripts from 3.78m on Sunday. Except for the trading sub-index, all the sub-indices turned red on Monday with the hydropower sub-index losing the most. Nabil Bank had the highest turnover of Rs 30.62m closing at a market price of Rs 589.9 per share. The shares of the Global IME Bank were the most traded on Monday.  

The price of gold has increased by Rs 1, 000 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 109, 000 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 108, 000 per tola on Monday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 108, 500 per tola. It was traded at Rs 107, 500. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1,400 per tola today.