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The price of gold has increased by Rs 500 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 151, 500 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 150, 000 per tola on Wednesday.

Similarly, the price of silver had increased by Rs 25 and is being traded at Rs 1, 790 per tola today.

The new urban policy has assigned responsibilities for urban development to the federal, provincial and local governments under the federal system. 

The government introduced National Urban Policy, 2024, last week, realizing that the 17-year-old policy would be inadequate to address recent social, political and economic developments in the country. 

While the policy is not a law, it serves as a guiding framework for drafting legislation, with a focus on expanding access to resilient urban infrastructure. The new policy reflects Nepal’s commitment to achieving sustainable urban development in line with global frameworks such as the SDGs, the Paris Agreement, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The previous policy of 2007 defined a city based on a minimum population of 5,000, a population density of 10 persons per hectare and at least 50 percent of the population engaged in non-agricultural activities. This contrasted with the standards of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which says urban centers should have at least 50,000 residents and a density of 1,500 people per square kilometer. Likewise, semi-urban centers require at least 3,000 residents and densities between 300–1,500 people per square kilometer.

The new policy aims to coordinate with stakeholders for planning, regulation and management of urban areas through appropriate measures to expand access to resilient urban infrastructure. It targets improving urban infrastructure indicators in urban centers by at least 15 percent on average by 2036. The policy envisages developing an advanced national urban system, expanding access to resilient urban infrastructure, maximum utilization of resources for systematic urban development, and enhancing inter-sectoral coordination and urban governance to meet its objectives.

Likewise, prioritized resource mobilization across all government tiers, leveraging alternative financial tools, promoting partnerships with private and cooperative sectors, and integrating informal economic activities into urban development are the major strategies that the policy has outlined to meet its objectives.

As per the new policy, urban development comes under the federal framework, with responsibilities divided among the federal, provincial, and local governments. The federal government is tasked with formulating national policies, laws and standards to ensure consistency and uniformity in urban growth across the country. This includes the scientific classification of cities and the establishment of minimum service benchmarks, which serve as a foundation for equitable and sustainable urbanisation.  Development of strategic urban infrastructure and the promotion of green and climate-resilient technologies to mitigate the impacts of climate change is also the responsibility of the federal government.

Likewise, provincial and local governments must implement federal policies within their jurisdictions. Ensuring equitable access to infrastructure and services across urban centers and addressing urban challenges through sustainable planning and resource mobilisation are the key responsibilities of the provincial and local governments.

Urbanization challenges

Nepal has witnessed rapid urbanization driven by migration from rural areas. While there were only 58 municipalities in 2011, the number has surged to 293 following state restructuring. As per the 2021 census, 66.01 percent of the population resides in municipalities, with urban population density at 27.07 percent and peri-urban population at 39.75 percent. 

However, there are significant inequalities in infrastructure and services among municipalities, with urban infrastructure indices varying significantly. Kathmandu Metropolitan City, for example, scores 0.91 in Urban Infrastructure Condition index, while Gulariya Municipality of Bardiya scores only 0.16. The scarcity of open spaces in urban areas—only 0.48 percent in Kathmandu and 0.06 percent in Lalitpur—further highlights the lack of essential social infrastructure in Nepal’s urban centers. Likewise, planned land development contributes just six percent of the total residential plots supplied. These disparities have spurred the need for a comprehensive urban system that includes market centers, small and medium cities, and larger urban economic hubs.

Migration has been identified as a major driver of urbanization. The 2021 census shows negative population growth in 34 hill districts, while 54 percent of the population resides in Tara region which has 17 percent of the country’s land area. This has created challenges like inadequate services, urban poverty, unemployment, and unplanned settlements, with limited accessibility for children, elderly and persons with disabilities.

Since the National Urban Policy of 2007 was brought before the country adopted the federal setup, it lacked a comprehensive framework for urban development across three tiers of government. Since challenges such as unmanaged urbanization, environmental degradation, insufficient services, and the destruction of heritage and green spaces hindered Nepal from fully benefiting from urbanization, the government realized the need to bring a new policy.

The new policy seeks to address these gaps by balancing urban structure, enhancing governance, and fostering partnerships among federal, provincial and local governments. It also emphasizes strategic investments in urban infrastructure to make cities more attractive and interconnected.

Tourist arrivals to Nepal via air surpassed the one-million mark for the second consecutive year in 2024 but remained below pre-covid levels.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 1,055,533 tourists visited Nepal in the first 11 months of 2024, compared to 1,014,882 in 2023. Since Nepal welcomed 91,491 foreign tourists till Dec 30, arrivals in the last month of 2024 are estimated to reach around 95,000, marking a year-on-year growth of over 13 percent.

Nepal first recorded over 1m foreign air arrivals in 2018, with 1,173,072 visitors, and the number rose slightly to 1,197,191 in 2019—the highest ever. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a drastic decline, with arrivals plummeting to 230,085 in 2020 and further to 150,962 in 2021, the lowest since 1977 when 129,329 tourists visited the country.

Tourism began to recover as the effects of the pandemic waned, with arrivals rebounding to 614,869 in 2022 and crossing the 1m mark again in 2023.

In 2024, Nepal received the highest number of tourists in March with 128,167 arrivals. October came second with 124,393 foreign tourists, followed by November (114,501) and April (111,376).

Government officials and tourism stakeholders were expecting foreign tourist numbers to return to pre-covid figures in 2024. However, tourist footfalls fell short of the target yet again. Officials of the Nepal Tourism Board and private sector entrepreneurs say one factor that affected tourist numbers over the last two months of 2024 was the closure of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) during nighttime hours. The closure of the airport in the peak tourist season disrupted international flights and impacted tourist arrivals, they added.

A closer look at arrival figures of 2024 reveals the impact of the airport closure. Between January and October, tourist arrivals increased 16 percent compared to the same period in 2023. However, growth slowed to just two percent in November and December compared to the same months of 2023.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal implemented nighttime closures of TIA starting
Nov 7. 

Meanwhile, international tourism is on track for full recovery by the end of the year with spending growing faster than arrivals. According to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), international arrivals reached 98 percent of 2019 levels in January-September 2024. An estimated 1.1bn international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) were recorded in the January-September period of 2024, about 11 percent more than in the same period of 2023.

Arrivals in the Middle East and Europe have exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 19 percent and one percent, respectively, while Africa has reached the pre-covid levels. According to the UNWTO, the Americas recorded 97 percent of 2019 levels and Asia and the Pacific 85 percent in the January-September period.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 5. 10 points to close at 2, 58. 60 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 0. 58 points to close at 444. 12 points.

A total of  9,434,009-unit shares of 305 companies were traded for Rs 3. 59 billion.

Meanwhile, Trishuli Jal Vidhyut Company Limited (TVCL) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Support Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. (SMB) was the top loser as its price fell by 10.00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 28 trillion.