The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) on Wednesday announced its forecasts of travel demand for 42-destinations within the Asia Pacific region, predicting an annual average rate of growth in arrivals to these destinations of just under seven per cent between 2009 and 2013.
South Asia is predicted to receive 7.5 per cent growth, according to the forecast.Asia is expected to receive much of this growth, with an average increase of around 7.5 per cent per annum. North America will average around five per cent and the Pacific four-to-five per cent, over that period.
Within Asia, the fastest growing sub-region will be Southeast Asia, with just over eight per cent, followed by South Asia with around 7.5 per cent, and Northeast Asia at just over seven per cent per annum.
Around 15 source regions will generate double-digit growth for Asia-Pacific over the period to 2013, with intra-Asia traffic alone fuelling annual gains of around 7.5 per cent and adding more than 76-million additional arrivals to Asia by 2013.
The ones to watch out for here are South and Central Asia into Northeast Asia (17 per cent and 14 per cent gains per annum respectively), as well as the Middle East markets, which are also tipped to show substantial growth with gains in excess of 10 per cent per annum to 2013.In terms of generating the most physical arrivals however, it is Northeast Asia and the Americas that will generate most additional traffic to Asia-Pacific. Northeast Asia will add an additional 65-million arrivals to Asia-Pacific destinations by 2013, while North America will add close to 18-million more than in 2009.
This will all be largely intra-regional growth. However, with around 83 per cent of the additional arrivals from North America heading to destinations within the Americas, while just under 80 per cent of the additional growth from Northeast Asia will be to destinations within Northeast Asia.
"This is not surprising, particularly given the enormous rise in air seat capacity on the intra-Asia routes, especially from the so-called low-cost carriers," John Koldowski, deputy CEO and head, Office of Strategy Management, PATA, said, adding that the shift in source markets carries a significant number of issues for operators in the region.
"Many of the long-haul markets have relatively longer lengths of stay, therefore, any decrease in arrivals from these sources, even though relative, will be felt in terms of nights booked and quite possibly yield,” he added.
European visitor volume
KATHMANDU: Visitors from Europe are a substantial component of the Asia Pacific arrivals count, generating 34.5-million visits in 2009; some 9.5 per cent of the international inbound volume to the region for that year. While the relative share of arrivals from Europe is forecast to drop to around 9.1 per cent of the total inbound volume by 2013, the actual numeric count will rise to more than 44-million arrivals from a base of 35.5-million in 2009, averaging annual growth of between five-to-six per cent over that period. The impact of European arrivals varies greatly across the sub-regions and destinations within the Asia Pacific region however, as can be seen by the actual and expected relative shares in 2009 and 2013 respectively. Of the almost 500 individual origin-destination pairs from Europe to Asia Pacific destinations, more than a quarter (26.8 per cent) are forecast to grow at an average annual rate in excess of 10 per cent between 2009 and 2013. Some of the European markets to watch over the next few years in terms of rate of growth are shown below. Of particular interest is the emergence of the Eastern Europe markets into Asia Pacific.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Unions postpone strike
Trade unions today called off their agitation but till March 14.
The three agitating trade unions -- Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC), General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) and All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) -- postponed their planned strike till March 14 to create a conducive environment for talks with entrepreneurs.
"We agree to postpone the agitation programmes from today till March 14," said a joint statement signed by the trade trade unions and FNCCI vice-president and coordinator of the Employers' Council Pradeep Jung Pandey.
Earlier in the morning, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) president Kush Kumar Joshi said that the entrepreneurs will not sit for talks until the trade unions take their decision to close down the industries back. "We will not bow down to any intimidation," he said, adding that FNCCI is ready to talk but after the trade unions allow to run the industries.
"The private sector is bearing the burnt of 16-hour power outage, 16 per cent interests rate and forcible closure of the industries bringing the industrial activities to a halt," he said, urging the government to take serious note of the situation.
Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, however, opined that the logical demands of the trade unions will be taken into consideration but the trade unions should not forcibly close the industries that they have been doing for last two days.
"The only way out is through dialogue not intimidation," he said, adding that the government is serious on the wage dispute.Similarly, deputy prime minister and finance minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari said that he is ready to mediate the talks, if the trade unions take their decision to close industries back and sit for dialogue.
From Tuesday, the factories of nearly 80 companies -- in Hetauda Industrial Zone -- closed indefinitely after the trade unions called a strike in Makwanpur to press their demand for a minimum wage of Rs 10,000 per month up from the current Rs 4,600. They d even threatened to call indefinite strike from March 26 across the country.
Meanwhile, senior vice-president of FNCCI Suraj Vaidya, said that labourers and entrepreneurs are two faces of a coin. "The forcible intimidation will hurt the relationships between the entrepreneurs and labourers," he said, adding that need of the hour is to unitedly solve the problem through dialogue.
NTUC is the Nepali Congress affiliated trade union, whereas GEFONT is CPN-UML led and ANTUF is UCPN-Maoists' sister organisation that has two new splinters led by Badri Bajgain (near to party vice-chairman Mohan Vaidya) and Laldhoj Nembang (near to another vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai).
The three agitating trade unions -- Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC), General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) and All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) -- postponed their planned strike till March 14 to create a conducive environment for talks with entrepreneurs.
"We agree to postpone the agitation programmes from today till March 14," said a joint statement signed by the trade trade unions and FNCCI vice-president and coordinator of the Employers' Council Pradeep Jung Pandey.
Earlier in the morning, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) president Kush Kumar Joshi said that the entrepreneurs will not sit for talks until the trade unions take their decision to close down the industries back. "We will not bow down to any intimidation," he said, adding that FNCCI is ready to talk but after the trade unions allow to run the industries.
"The private sector is bearing the burnt of 16-hour power outage, 16 per cent interests rate and forcible closure of the industries bringing the industrial activities to a halt," he said, urging the government to take serious note of the situation.
Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, however, opined that the logical demands of the trade unions will be taken into consideration but the trade unions should not forcibly close the industries that they have been doing for last two days.
"The only way out is through dialogue not intimidation," he said, adding that the government is serious on the wage dispute.Similarly, deputy prime minister and finance minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari said that he is ready to mediate the talks, if the trade unions take their decision to close industries back and sit for dialogue.
From Tuesday, the factories of nearly 80 companies -- in Hetauda Industrial Zone -- closed indefinitely after the trade unions called a strike in Makwanpur to press their demand for a minimum wage of Rs 10,000 per month up from the current Rs 4,600. They d even threatened to call indefinite strike from March 26 across the country.
Meanwhile, senior vice-president of FNCCI Suraj Vaidya, said that labourers and entrepreneurs are two faces of a coin. "The forcible intimidation will hurt the relationships between the entrepreneurs and labourers," he said, adding that need of the hour is to unitedly solve the problem through dialogue.
NTUC is the Nepali Congress affiliated trade union, whereas GEFONT is CPN-UML led and ANTUF is UCPN-Maoists' sister organisation that has two new splinters led by Badri Bajgain (near to party vice-chairman Mohan Vaidya) and Laldhoj Nembang (near to another vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai).
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Cost of labour unrest pulls manufacturing sector's growth down
The industries that are bearing the burnt of high interest rates and regular power outages are now under the pressure from the trade unions to raise the minimum wage.
The All Nepal Industrial Trade Union (ANTUF) -- UCPN-Maoits sister wing -- called indefinite strike from March 26, if their conditions are not met.
At a time, when the country needs more investment -- both domestic and foreign -- the trade unions forceful closure of the industries will create negative impact to the economy that has been witnessing around 3.5 per cent growth in an average in last one decade.
"The cost of fund has risen by almost 100 per cent due to rising interest rates and labour cost has risen by 50 per cent,” said Hari Sharma, MD of Janata Pharmaceuticals and vice-president of Confederation of Nepalese Industry (CNI) that has requested the labourers to return to their work and settle the problem through dialogue. The private sector is deeply affected by insecurity, forced donation, strikes and shutdowns and labour unrest that has brough the production and productivity both down.
"We want the issue to be sorted out through dialogue not by force," Kush Kumar Joshi, president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said, adding that the investor will loose confidence, if the labour unions use forceful strategy.
The highly politicised and increasingly assertive trade union activity have spread the negative message to the investors, he added.From yesterday, the factories of nearly 80 companies -- in Hetauda Industrial Zone -- closed indefinitely after the ANTUF called a strike in Makwanpur to press their demand for a minimum wage of Rs 10,000 per month up from the current Rs 4,600.
Though the party supremo pledged that they will not strike throughout 2011 to mark Nepal Tourism Year 2011 successful, ANTUF disobeyed its own chairman and announced indefinate strike from March 26.
This is the second industrial strike called by the Maoists after they targeted Kaski, forcing the industries there to announce a raise of Rs 1,500 after one day closure of industries last month.
The call for higher minimum wages is also being supported by other trade unions affiliated to CPN-UML and Nepali Congress, but they have slightly different take on the issue and have urged to solve the problem through dialogue.
"The industries, reeling under almost 20-hour power cuts during working hours cannot take the presure of labour trouble," Joshi added.Some 400,000 youth enter the job market annually and half of them are consumed by the foreign employment. But the rest needs to be consumed by the domestic industries. However increasing labour-management problem could lead to more unemployment.
With $35.31 billion, Nepal ranks in the 102nd position in the GDP (purchasing power parity 2011 Country Ranks) and as long as there is labour unrest the country cannot see more investment that is key to create employment and economic growth.
The umbrella organisation of private sector has urged the trade unions to be more disciplined. "We are ready for the wage hike according to the current inflation rate," it said, adding that, it, however ,doesnot subscribe to the forceful means.
Manufacturing Production Index (MPI) increases by 1.23 per cent only
KATHMANDU: According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the Manufacturing Production Index (MPI) grew by 1.23 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal year. MPI is a key indicator of the country’s industrial activity. For the last few years, the country’s industrial sector has been in a sorry state. Not only its contribution to the GDP has declined, the private sector is also making an exit from the industrial sector. The decline or slow growth of some major sectors with higher weightage in the MPI resulted in poor growth of the overall manufacturing sector. There has been a huge decline of 7.89 per cent in the index of fabricated metal products — iron rod, billets and GI pipes -- that has the heighest weight of 11.71 per cent in the MPI. The GI pipe index, which commands 6.17 per cent weight in the MPI, has declined by 14.21 per cent in the first quarter.
The All Nepal Industrial Trade Union (ANTUF) -- UCPN-Maoits sister wing -- called indefinite strike from March 26, if their conditions are not met.
At a time, when the country needs more investment -- both domestic and foreign -- the trade unions forceful closure of the industries will create negative impact to the economy that has been witnessing around 3.5 per cent growth in an average in last one decade.
"The cost of fund has risen by almost 100 per cent due to rising interest rates and labour cost has risen by 50 per cent,” said Hari Sharma, MD of Janata Pharmaceuticals and vice-president of Confederation of Nepalese Industry (CNI) that has requested the labourers to return to their work and settle the problem through dialogue. The private sector is deeply affected by insecurity, forced donation, strikes and shutdowns and labour unrest that has brough the production and productivity both down.
"We want the issue to be sorted out through dialogue not by force," Kush Kumar Joshi, president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said, adding that the investor will loose confidence, if the labour unions use forceful strategy.
The highly politicised and increasingly assertive trade union activity have spread the negative message to the investors, he added.From yesterday, the factories of nearly 80 companies -- in Hetauda Industrial Zone -- closed indefinitely after the ANTUF called a strike in Makwanpur to press their demand for a minimum wage of Rs 10,000 per month up from the current Rs 4,600.
Though the party supremo pledged that they will not strike throughout 2011 to mark Nepal Tourism Year 2011 successful, ANTUF disobeyed its own chairman and announced indefinate strike from March 26.
This is the second industrial strike called by the Maoists after they targeted Kaski, forcing the industries there to announce a raise of Rs 1,500 after one day closure of industries last month.
The call for higher minimum wages is also being supported by other trade unions affiliated to CPN-UML and Nepali Congress, but they have slightly different take on the issue and have urged to solve the problem through dialogue.
"The industries, reeling under almost 20-hour power cuts during working hours cannot take the presure of labour trouble," Joshi added.Some 400,000 youth enter the job market annually and half of them are consumed by the foreign employment. But the rest needs to be consumed by the domestic industries. However increasing labour-management problem could lead to more unemployment.
With $35.31 billion, Nepal ranks in the 102nd position in the GDP (purchasing power parity 2011 Country Ranks) and as long as there is labour unrest the country cannot see more investment that is key to create employment and economic growth.
The umbrella organisation of private sector has urged the trade unions to be more disciplined. "We are ready for the wage hike according to the current inflation rate," it said, adding that, it, however ,doesnot subscribe to the forceful means.
Manufacturing Production Index (MPI) increases by 1.23 per cent only
KATHMANDU: According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the Manufacturing Production Index (MPI) grew by 1.23 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal year. MPI is a key indicator of the country’s industrial activity. For the last few years, the country’s industrial sector has been in a sorry state. Not only its contribution to the GDP has declined, the private sector is also making an exit from the industrial sector. The decline or slow growth of some major sectors with higher weightage in the MPI resulted in poor growth of the overall manufacturing sector. There has been a huge decline of 7.89 per cent in the index of fabricated metal products — iron rod, billets and GI pipes -- that has the heighest weight of 11.71 per cent in the MPI. The GI pipe index, which commands 6.17 per cent weight in the MPI, has declined by 14.21 per cent in the first quarter.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
IFC working with Finance Ministry to improve tax administration
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is working with the Ministry of Finance and the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to assess requirements and identify areas of support on tax reforms that will help reduce administrative burden, broaden the tax base, and improve operations for Nepali companies.
An IFC team visited Nepal this month on a tax-scoping mission as part of the Global Tax Simplification Programme, said the bank. "The project, focusing specifically on the needs of small and medium enterprises, will work to improve public awareness on tax reforms and expand outreach to taxpayers," it said.
"We hail IFC’s partnership to work on reforms that will reduce the cost of complying with tax policies and procedures and improve the efficiency of our tax system," revenue secretary Krishna Hari Baskota said, adding that it will benefit local businesses, generate higher investment, and help make Nepal’s tax administration more competitive globally.
The ministry has an ambitious target of raising revenues from the current 15.1 per cent to 20 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the next few years. The Global Tax Simplification Programme has two parallel work streams — technical solutions to simplify systems of taxation and a knowledge management programme designed to enable governments to approach key issues facing tax simplification.
The programme introduced a new approach to tax reforms by focusing on how businesses are affected by the tax system. By streamlining business taxation, the programme sets out to broaden tax base, reduce informality, and spur growth and investment.
"The government is committed to tax reforms and we are happy to offer advisory support and expertise to further improve the country’s business environment for small and medium enterprises,” said Albena Melin, Programme Coordinator for Nepal Investment Climate Programme, IFC Advisory Services in South Asia.
Nepal, which ranks 124th out of 183 economies on paying taxes in the World Bank Group’s Doing Business 2011 report, has significant scope to improve the ranking on paying taxes. IFC creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives by supporting private sector development, mobilising capital for private enterprise, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments
An IFC team visited Nepal this month on a tax-scoping mission as part of the Global Tax Simplification Programme, said the bank. "The project, focusing specifically on the needs of small and medium enterprises, will work to improve public awareness on tax reforms and expand outreach to taxpayers," it said.
"We hail IFC’s partnership to work on reforms that will reduce the cost of complying with tax policies and procedures and improve the efficiency of our tax system," revenue secretary Krishna Hari Baskota said, adding that it will benefit local businesses, generate higher investment, and help make Nepal’s tax administration more competitive globally.
The ministry has an ambitious target of raising revenues from the current 15.1 per cent to 20 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the next few years. The Global Tax Simplification Programme has two parallel work streams — technical solutions to simplify systems of taxation and a knowledge management programme designed to enable governments to approach key issues facing tax simplification.
The programme introduced a new approach to tax reforms by focusing on how businesses are affected by the tax system. By streamlining business taxation, the programme sets out to broaden tax base, reduce informality, and spur growth and investment.
"The government is committed to tax reforms and we are happy to offer advisory support and expertise to further improve the country’s business environment for small and medium enterprises,” said Albena Melin, Programme Coordinator for Nepal Investment Climate Programme, IFC Advisory Services in South Asia.
Nepal, which ranks 124th out of 183 economies on paying taxes in the World Bank Group’s Doing Business 2011 report, has significant scope to improve the ranking on paying taxes. IFC creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives by supporting private sector development, mobilising capital for private enterprise, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments
ADB sets up Trust Fund for developing countries for Aid Effectiveness Forum
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has set up a new multidonor trust fund to support participation of developing countries at the next global forum on aid effectiveness.
The fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness Trust Fund -- to be administered by ADB -- will take contributions from bilateral, multilateral and individual sources, including corporations and foundations. The fund will provide assistance for representatives from developing countries who will attend the forum in Busan, Republic of Korea in November this year.
"The fund will contribute towards ADB efforts to support developing countries to take ownership of the aid effectiveness agenda. It reflects ADB''s continuing strong commitment to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness forged back in 2005," said director general of ADB's Strategy and Policy Department Kazu Sakai.
The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness is an international agreement among donor countries to align and rationalise aid activities to avoid resource duplication and improve development outcomes. ADB played a key role in the forum that drew up the Paris Declaration, as well as the follow-up High Level Forum three held in Accra, Ghana in 2008.
ADB is also actively involved in the fourth forum in Busan, which will review whether earlier commitments and targets have been reached, and what steps are needed to ensure aid is having desired development results.Up to 2,000 participants from over 150 countries are expected in Busan, including ministers, heads of bilateral and multilateral institutions, developing country governments, parliaments, civil society organisations, foundations, the private sector and academia.
Contributions to the fund will be on an untied grant basis, with money pooled together in one account. The fund will be held and invested at the discretion of ADB and will terminate once the bulk of money has been disbursed.
The fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness Trust Fund -- to be administered by ADB -- will take contributions from bilateral, multilateral and individual sources, including corporations and foundations. The fund will provide assistance for representatives from developing countries who will attend the forum in Busan, Republic of Korea in November this year.
"The fund will contribute towards ADB efforts to support developing countries to take ownership of the aid effectiveness agenda. It reflects ADB''s continuing strong commitment to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness forged back in 2005," said director general of ADB's Strategy and Policy Department Kazu Sakai.
The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness is an international agreement among donor countries to align and rationalise aid activities to avoid resource duplication and improve development outcomes. ADB played a key role in the forum that drew up the Paris Declaration, as well as the follow-up High Level Forum three held in Accra, Ghana in 2008.
ADB is also actively involved in the fourth forum in Busan, which will review whether earlier commitments and targets have been reached, and what steps are needed to ensure aid is having desired development results.Up to 2,000 participants from over 150 countries are expected in Busan, including ministers, heads of bilateral and multilateral institutions, developing country governments, parliaments, civil society organisations, foundations, the private sector and academia.
Contributions to the fund will be on an untied grant basis, with money pooled together in one account. The fund will be held and invested at the discretion of ADB and will terminate once the bulk of money has been disbursed.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Power crisis breaks backbon of economy
Regular power outage has increased cost of production of domestic industries that have already been hit by the rising interest rates hard.
The cost of power intensive industry has risen by four times as they have to pay Rs 24 per unit of energy produced by diesel/petrol instead of hydropower generated Rs 6 per unit electricity.
"The country is fast losing its competitiveness due to rising cost of production,” said president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Kush Kumar Joshi.
Nepal’s core competency was energy and labour till some years back, he said, adding that the rising cost of production has brought the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the economy down.The contribution of the manufacturing sector to gross domestic product (GDP) has declined to six per cent in the current fiscal year from 9.03 per cent in the year 2000-01, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The central bank has revised the growth forecast downwards to 4.7 per cent from its earlier projection of 5.5 per cent due to low manufacturing output.
According to vice-president of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and MD of Janata Pharmaceuticals Hari Sharma, the total cost of production has increased by 25 per cent in the pharmaceuticals industry alone.
Nepal depends largely on hydroelectric generation for its electricity. It currently meets half the demand at 392 megawatts (MW) – of electricity of the total demand of 980 MW – including electricity generated from rivers, thermal power and solar plants.
The country's water resources possess the total capacity to generate 83,000 MW of electricity. However, technical and economic feasibility stands at only 42,000 MW of electricity generation.
The number of electricity consumers in the country is estimated to have increased by 12 per cent to 1,879,000 by the end of the fiscal year 2009-10, according to Economic Survey of 2009-10. "Around 45.52 per cent of electricity was consumed by households, while 42.52 per cent is consumed by industrial sector in 2008-09."
Constructions of additional power plants were firstly hampered by the country’s decade-long conflict, and secondly by political bickering. The industrial corridors across the country have been experiencing long hours of power outages reducing the production in the industrial corridor by almost 50 per cent.
"About 50 per cent of the labourers lost their jobs due to the current power woes,” according to umbrella organisation of the private sector.According to Joshi, the power crisis has repealed the investors that have led to the closure of industries bringing the rate of employment down.
Some 400,000 unemployed youth enter the job market annually and half of them are consumed by the foreign employment. "And the country can not consume remaining half that could lead to the social unrest," according to sociologists.
With $35.31 billion, Nepal ranks in the 102nd position in the GDP (purchasing power parity 2011 Country Ranks) and as long as the country cannot provide energy -- the engine of economic growth -- to the manufacturing industries, the country cannot achieve the double digit from current 3.5 per cent in average in last one decade.
The cost of power intensive industry has risen by four times as they have to pay Rs 24 per unit of energy produced by diesel/petrol instead of hydropower generated Rs 6 per unit electricity.
"The country is fast losing its competitiveness due to rising cost of production,” said president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Kush Kumar Joshi.
Nepal’s core competency was energy and labour till some years back, he said, adding that the rising cost of production has brought the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the economy down.The contribution of the manufacturing sector to gross domestic product (GDP) has declined to six per cent in the current fiscal year from 9.03 per cent in the year 2000-01, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The central bank has revised the growth forecast downwards to 4.7 per cent from its earlier projection of 5.5 per cent due to low manufacturing output.
According to vice-president of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and MD of Janata Pharmaceuticals Hari Sharma, the total cost of production has increased by 25 per cent in the pharmaceuticals industry alone.
Nepal depends largely on hydroelectric generation for its electricity. It currently meets half the demand at 392 megawatts (MW) – of electricity of the total demand of 980 MW – including electricity generated from rivers, thermal power and solar plants.
The country's water resources possess the total capacity to generate 83,000 MW of electricity. However, technical and economic feasibility stands at only 42,000 MW of electricity generation.
The number of electricity consumers in the country is estimated to have increased by 12 per cent to 1,879,000 by the end of the fiscal year 2009-10, according to Economic Survey of 2009-10. "Around 45.52 per cent of electricity was consumed by households, while 42.52 per cent is consumed by industrial sector in 2008-09."
Constructions of additional power plants were firstly hampered by the country’s decade-long conflict, and secondly by political bickering. The industrial corridors across the country have been experiencing long hours of power outages reducing the production in the industrial corridor by almost 50 per cent.
"About 50 per cent of the labourers lost their jobs due to the current power woes,” according to umbrella organisation of the private sector.According to Joshi, the power crisis has repealed the investors that have led to the closure of industries bringing the rate of employment down.
Some 400,000 unemployed youth enter the job market annually and half of them are consumed by the foreign employment. "And the country can not consume remaining half that could lead to the social unrest," according to sociologists.
With $35.31 billion, Nepal ranks in the 102nd position in the GDP (purchasing power parity 2011 Country Ranks) and as long as the country cannot provide energy -- the engine of economic growth -- to the manufacturing industries, the country cannot achieve the double digit from current 3.5 per cent in average in last one decade.
RMDC offers low rates to help expand microfinance outreach
Rural Microfinance Development Centre (RMDC) is offering seed fund of Rs 1 million at the rate of two per cent to microfinance institutions that are willing to work in the remote hilly districts.
"Since microfinance institutions have not been interested to go to the remote hilly districts due to high cost of fund, we are providing them low-cost fund to go to the remote poors of Darchula, Jajarkot, Achham, Bhajang and Kalikot," said CEO of RMDC Shankar Man Shrestha, launching 'State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2011', in the valley today.
"The RMDC teams will go to the field and approve their loans -- without any charges -- so that they also donot need to bear the cost of coming to Kathmandu," he added.
The 1.65 million rural poor households in the country are getting the service of microfinance but in recent years, due to cut-throat competition, they are all overcrowded in accessible districts servicing the non-poor and deviating from the mission of the microfinance.
"RMDC is trying to help microfinance institutions also to make them responsible and not let them drift from the mission," he said, adding that overdebtness due to overlapping and lending concentration will create troubles in the whole sector, if unchecked on time.
"The microfinance institutions have to earn reasonable profit by charging the reasonable interest rates for its sustainable growth. Despite the growing interest rates due to liquidity crunch, the microfinance institutions have not raised their rates," Shrestha added.
Globally, more than 128 million of the world’s poorest families received microloan in 2009 — an all-time high, according to a report released today by the Microcredit Summit Campaign.
Assuming an average of five persons per family, the loans to 128 million poorest clients help some 641 million family members, which is greater than the combined population of the EU and Russia, the report said, adding that microloans are used to help people living in poverty start or expand a range of small businesses.
"Microcredit has very effectively lifted millions of poor women and their families out of poverty,” said US ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer."With the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day being celebrated on March 8, it is gratifying to see that over 81 per cent of the very poor who received microloans were women – that is more than 100 million people.
However, Nepal has witnessed almost 100 per cent involvement of women in the sector, Shrestha said, adding that microfinance has also empowered the women.
According to the global report, overall more than 190 million people had a microloan in 2009, however, the Campaign focuses on the 128 million poorest. In the 12 years, since the Campaign’s founding, the number of very poor families with a microloan has grown more than 16-fold from 7.6 million in 1997 to 128 million in 2009, said the global report that included data from over 3,500 institutions with more than 93 per cent of the information collected last year and verified by a third party.
The report also announced the development of a Seal of Excellence for Poverty Outreach and Transformation in Microfinance which has been under discussion for 11 months and will continue to evolve throughout this year and beyond with input from a broad range of stakeholders.
"With such incredible growth in microfinance there is a need for some certification, some objective measurement that makes it clear to the outside world that these are the goals of those microfinance institutions that are committed to reducing poverty and these are the institutions reaching those goals,” said Chuck Waterfield, founder of MicroFinance Transparency.
Nobel laureate and Microcredit Summit Campaign co-founder Professor Muhammad Yunus hopes that microfinance institutions will remain committed to their mission of helping the poor by charging low interest rates and that appropriate laws will be adopted for MFIs to access local deposits and to be able to lend out those deposits rather than seeking loan funds from commercial investors.
"Since microfinance institutions have not been interested to go to the remote hilly districts due to high cost of fund, we are providing them low-cost fund to go to the remote poors of Darchula, Jajarkot, Achham, Bhajang and Kalikot," said CEO of RMDC Shankar Man Shrestha, launching 'State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2011', in the valley today.
"The RMDC teams will go to the field and approve their loans -- without any charges -- so that they also donot need to bear the cost of coming to Kathmandu," he added.
The 1.65 million rural poor households in the country are getting the service of microfinance but in recent years, due to cut-throat competition, they are all overcrowded in accessible districts servicing the non-poor and deviating from the mission of the microfinance.
"RMDC is trying to help microfinance institutions also to make them responsible and not let them drift from the mission," he said, adding that overdebtness due to overlapping and lending concentration will create troubles in the whole sector, if unchecked on time.
"The microfinance institutions have to earn reasonable profit by charging the reasonable interest rates for its sustainable growth. Despite the growing interest rates due to liquidity crunch, the microfinance institutions have not raised their rates," Shrestha added.
Globally, more than 128 million of the world’s poorest families received microloan in 2009 — an all-time high, according to a report released today by the Microcredit Summit Campaign.
Assuming an average of five persons per family, the loans to 128 million poorest clients help some 641 million family members, which is greater than the combined population of the EU and Russia, the report said, adding that microloans are used to help people living in poverty start or expand a range of small businesses.
"Microcredit has very effectively lifted millions of poor women and their families out of poverty,” said US ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer."With the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day being celebrated on March 8, it is gratifying to see that over 81 per cent of the very poor who received microloans were women – that is more than 100 million people.
However, Nepal has witnessed almost 100 per cent involvement of women in the sector, Shrestha said, adding that microfinance has also empowered the women.
According to the global report, overall more than 190 million people had a microloan in 2009, however, the Campaign focuses on the 128 million poorest. In the 12 years, since the Campaign’s founding, the number of very poor families with a microloan has grown more than 16-fold from 7.6 million in 1997 to 128 million in 2009, said the global report that included data from over 3,500 institutions with more than 93 per cent of the information collected last year and verified by a third party.
The report also announced the development of a Seal of Excellence for Poverty Outreach and Transformation in Microfinance which has been under discussion for 11 months and will continue to evolve throughout this year and beyond with input from a broad range of stakeholders.
"With such incredible growth in microfinance there is a need for some certification, some objective measurement that makes it clear to the outside world that these are the goals of those microfinance institutions that are committed to reducing poverty and these are the institutions reaching those goals,” said Chuck Waterfield, founder of MicroFinance Transparency.
Nobel laureate and Microcredit Summit Campaign co-founder Professor Muhammad Yunus hopes that microfinance institutions will remain committed to their mission of helping the poor by charging low interest rates and that appropriate laws will be adopted for MFIs to access local deposits and to be able to lend out those deposits rather than seeking loan funds from commercial investors.
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