Japan extends grant aid for SSDP

Ambassador of Japan to Nepal Masamichi Saigo and finance secretary Rajan Khanal today signed, and exchanged three sets of Notes, on behalf of their respective governments to help nepali education sector.
These Notes are for extending Japan’s Grant Assistance up to 250 million Japanese Yen, equivalent to Rs 254.7 million, and 378 million Japanese Yen, equivalent to Rs 385.2 million for the implementation of JDS Phase I and Phase II respectively, according to a press note issued by the Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu. “The third note relates to assistance of 300 million Japanese Yen, equivalent to Rs 305.7 million, for the implementation of the School Sector Development Program (SSDP).”
Likewise, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA Nepal) chief representative Yumiko Asakuma and joint secretary of the International Economic Cooperation and Coordination Division (IECCD) under the Finance Ministry Shree krishna Nepal have also signed and exchanged a grant agreement for the implementation of SSDP, the press note reads.
The JDS Project Grant is designed to support human resource development of friendly nations through accepting highly capable, energetic, and young government officials into Japanese universities and strengthening the partnership between recipient countries and Japan by utilising human relation chains to address future global needs. Phase I of JDS is in the final completion stage under which 60 Nepali government officers have already been dispatched while 20 are in the process of pursing their studies in Japanese universities. In the meantime, Phase II of JDS is in the implementation process with the addition of an infrastructure development component and doctoral degree programme as per the request of Nepal.
Japan has also been assisting in the implementation of the School Sector Development Programme (SSDP) from 2016.
Saigo, on the signing occasion, said that education is an investment in human capital and the foundation for a nation’s sustainable social and economic development. He also stressed that through education the cycle of poverty could be eradicated in the long term. “SSDP is considered as an important vessel to enable Nepal to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to become a middle-income country by 2030.”
The envoy also hoped that the SSDP would improve the quality of education, school management and institutional capacity and the access to education for children in marginalised communities, based on SDGs policy ‘No one left behind’.

€8.5 million humanitarian aid for South and South East Asia

The European Commission (EC) has mobilised a new humanitarian funding package worth €8.5 million to help the most affected communities in South and South East Asia hit by natural disasters and humanitarian crises. This includes €1.5 million in emergency aid for the victims of ongoing monsoons in India and Bangladesh, reads press note from the EC. “The remaining funds will be provided in Nepal and the Philippines as well as for disaster risk reduction initiatives in the region.”
“The countries in South Asia are facing an increasingly worse monsoon season,” according to Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides.
“Heavy rains and flooding have created a large-scale humanitarian situation in India and Bangladesh,” Stylianides said, adding that EU solidarity makes a difference its support will reach those most in need providing water, sanitation and essential supplies, during these difficult times. “In the wider region, the EU is also supporting Nepal and the Philippines to be better prepared for natural disasters and get aid to those most in need.”
EU funding for monsoon victims will be distributed between India and Bangladesh, where more than 500,000 people have been displaced. The situation has affected mainly the states of Assam and Bihar in India and the North of Bangladesh. Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh where almost 1 million refugees live in the world's largest camp, is also affected.
The support comes on top of €2 million allocated to support several regional disaster risk reduction initiatives in South and Southeast Asia, and an additional €2 million dedicated to Nepal to improve both national and local response capacities in the events of fire, floods and earthquakes, particularly in cities.
Since 1998, the European Commission has invested over €88 million to fund Disaster Risk Reduction and preparedness programmes in South and Southeast Asia, supporting – among others – initiatives like the building of flood-resistant infrastructures and the reinforcement of Early Warning Systems.

Implementation of CGT becomes complex

Though, the government has slashed capital gains tax (CGT) on sale of shares from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent, the complexity of calculation – that came into effect from last Wednesday – has hit the implementation as neither regulator not players know how to implement the new tax calculation method.
The new calculation requires the share investors personally visit brokerage firms to self declare the amount of capital gains by taking the weighted average of the shares they had purchased on different dates. But the tax authority has also not fixed the cutoff date to calculate the cost price of purchased shares. The diktat from the tax authority is not only impractical but also traditional, as the investors need not visit the brokerage firm to sell or buy the share, instead they can order online from home or office.
The share investors, brokers and even the regulatory authority have no idea how to implement the government's new policy as according to the new rule, investors have to take the sum of prices of all shares that they purchase at different prices and divide the total amount by the number of shares to get the cost price, which is deducted from the current share price of the particular company to estimate the amount of capital gains.
Capital gain tax refers to the tax on profit that arises from the sale of shares, or any property.
The Stockbrokers’ Association of Nepal has asked investors to appear with evidence to estimate the cost price while selling shares as under the new rule, sellers have to consider the prices of all shares – even though they intend to sell only a portion of the shares they hold – to settle CGT as only the investors can self-declare the CGT after calculating their share cost.
The investors, thus, threatened the Finance Ministry to launch a protest, if the government does not resolve the problem as soon as possible. “The government must simplify the rule for computing capital gain tax.”
Similarly, the Securities Board of Nepal is also not clear about how to implement the new CGT calculation. Since the issue is related to tax, the capital market regulator can also not take any decision without prior approval from the Finance Ministry.
According to the Nepal Investors’ Forum, investors could not be present at their stockbrokers’ office, every time they sell shares as they have made to bear an extra burden by the new law.
The Forum also complained that the tax authority has also not fixed the cutoff date to calculate the cost price of purchased shares. Earlier, the government had been levying tax by considering the reference price of shares on January 15, 2016 to calculate capital gain.

FNCCI inks MoU with A2J Project

The umbrella organisation of private sector and Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (MoLJPA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU).
The MoU has been signed between the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and Enhancing Access to Justice through Institutional Reform (A2J) Project to collaborate in organising a province-level dialogue on business and human rights in all seven provinces, according to a press statement issued by the FNCCI.
“The A2J Project is being implemented under the leadership of Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (MoLJPA), with support of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),” the press note reads, adding that the project has been partnering with different key stakeholders that include business organisations, civil society and academia to raise awareness on business and human rights issues in Nepal with particular emphasis on UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. “FNCCI president Bhawani Rana and national project director and joint secretary of the MoLJPA Phanindra Gautam signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations.”
According to the MoU, FNCCI will lead the overall management of organising province-level dialogue on business and human rights in all seven provinces, while A2J will provide all needful technical support.
Rana, after signing the MoU, expressed commitment for effective implementation of the programme in coordination with FNCCI’s province chapters and its network. “The initiative will be a milestone in coordination and cooperation between both the organisations in the days to come,” the FNCCI press note reads.
Likewise, UNDP Nepal Resident Representative Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labe, on the occasion, highlighted importance of this collaboration among the UNDP, the government and private sector in the areas of business and human rights. She also shared her conviction that this initiative would support in implementing Global Compact principles.

Nepal participate in the ministerial meeting of NAM

Nepal participated in the ministerial meeting of the coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) held yesterday and today in Caracas, Venezuela.
Speaking at the general debate organised under the theme of ‘Promotion and Consolidation of Peace through Respect for International Law’,  ambassador and permanent representative of Nepal to the United Nations in New York and the head of Nepali delegation Amrit Bahadur Rai expressed Nepal’s resolve,  as a founding member of NAM, to play an active and constructive role to strengthen and revitalise the NAM in upholding its principles, principles of international law and charter of the United Nations (UN) for sovereign equality, peace and prosperity in the world. While highlighting the success of Nepal’s home-grown peace process, ambassador Rai stressed the importance of dialogue for the pacific settlement of disputes.
Earlier yesterday, Nepali delegation also participated in the opening session of the ministerial meeting which was chaired by minister of the People’s Power for Foreign Affairs of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Jorge Arreaza. In the capacity of the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) since 2016, president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro addressed the plenary session of the ministerial meeting yesterday afternoon. Also, in the presence of Maduro, the plenary session of the ministerial meeting adopted the ‘Caracas Final Document’ and the ‘Caracas Political Declaration’, which were negotiated in New York.
Later yesterday, Nepali delegation attended a dinner programme hosted by the minister of the People’s Power for Foreign Affairs, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in honour of the heads of the delegations to the meeting.
The ministerial meeting was preceded by the senior officials’ meeting of the NAM held on July 18 -19 also in Caracas. The two-member Nepali delegation to the ministerial and senior officials’ meetings was led by ambassador and permanent representative of Nepal to the United Nations in New York Amrit Bahadur Rai and included counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations in New York Surendra Thapa.

BFIs barred from charging prepayment penalty for loans below Rs 5 million

After repeated complaints from the customers, the central bank has restricted bank and financial institutions (BFIs) from arbitrary charging service, administrative and other fees.
Issuing a circular, the central bank also told BFIs that the difference of administrative service charge, prepayment penalty and commitment fee between clients while floating loans of same type should not be more than 0.25 percentage point.
The new consumer protection move against the BFIs’ that are charging their clients exorbitant fee under various headings will end discrepancy in various fees that BFIs charge, the cntral bank circular reads, adding that the fees, except administrative service charge, prepayment penalty and commitment fee that a BFIs levy on borrower, must be adjusted in the interest rate. “The central bank has also barred BFIs from collecting any prepayment penalty while repaying loans in advance from their clients with loan limit of Rs 5 million.”
The move will give some respite for the borrowers, who want to repay their loans before the schedule. Currently, the BFIs collect up to 2 per cent of penalty from borrowers, who repay loans before the predetermined schedule. “If a borrower wants to repay loans higher than Rs 5 million, including project-based financing, because of the changes in interest rates or conditions agreed during the loan disbursement, the bank will not be allowed to charge the prepayment penalty,” the circular reads.
Likewise, the BFIs can levy commitment fee, only if the borrower utilizes less than 60 per cent of sanctioned loans annually, the circular further reads, adding that the BFIs will not be allowed to collect any hidden fee from borrowers.
The central bank has also asked to complain, if any BFI imposes any charge higher than what has been prescribed. “The clients can file complaints at the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), and the central bank will help get refund of such charges, apart from charging the BFIs fine and taking other actions.”

Himalayan Airlines to begin Kathmandu-Dhaka flight from tomorrow

The Himalayan Airlines – one of the private carriers in the country – is going to start its Kathmandu-Dhaka flight from tomorrow.
The Airlines, which has a fleet of three new Airbus 320-200, will start its direct flight in the route to facilitate the influx of Bangladeshi tourists visiting Nepal. According to Himalaya Airlines' vice-president Bijaya Shrestha, there would be three Kathmandu-Dhaka flights in a week.
According to him, the Himalayan Airline's aircraft with H9 678 call sign will fly from Kathmandu at 11:10 am local time and will land at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 13:10 pm according to their local time.
The same day aircraft with call sign H9 679 will fly from Dhaka at 2:10 pm local time of Bangladesh and will land at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 3:20, he said, adding that the Airlines will operate its A320-214 narrow-bodied aircraft in the Kathmandu-Dhaka route with 150 economy class and eight premium economy class seats.
The airlines have offered 25 kg of free checked-in baggage allowance in the economy class and 20 kg in the premium economy. It is currently operating regular flights to three destinations in Qatar as well.
A total of 26,255 Bangladeshi tourists visited Nepal in 2018 while the number of Bangladeshi tourists visiting Nepal in 2017 stood at 29,060, according to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).