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The price of gold has dropped by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 135, 800 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 136, 000 per tola on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 135, 150 per tola. It was traded at Rs 135, 350 per tola.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,655 per tola today.

At the Third Nepal Investment Summit slated for April 28-29 in Kathmandu, Nepal plans to showcase around 150 projects—more than three dozen projects from the private sector and 120 projects from the government side—before international investors. 

According to the Office of the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN), those projects are mainly from hydropower, transport, tourism, expressway and agriculture sectors.

Winning trust
Meanwhile,  Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal stressed the need to take the private sector into confidence and spread a message that Nepal has an investment-friendly environment. Addressing an event at IBN, he said the stress should be on facilitating the private sector rather than controlling it for development and prosperity. 

“A new model for development should be charted by taking the private sector into confidence,” he said: There will be no development without taking the private sector into confidence. 

Public aspirations and expectations can be fulfilled by adopting a policy that encourages development, PM Dahal said, instructing IBN officials to work toward that end. 

Focus on feasible projects

With regard to the upcoming investment summit, he called on all parties involved to work with a positive mindset to make the summit a success.

PM Dahal underlined the need to push forth workable projects at the summit, which is round the bend, rather than merely presenting a ‘wish-list’. He expressed confidence that some Acts amended before the summit will help bring in foreign investment. “Let’s organize the summit and deliver a new message,” he urged, pointing out the need to simplify procedures and other works related to development projects. 

The PM insisted that the political leadership should be able to deal with difficulties that arise while delivering some good works. Stating that priority should be accorded to the steel industry, he underscored that work should be done for the establishment of such industries. He instructed IBN to prioritize irrigation projects for generation of jobs in the agriculture sector and accelerate stalled development projects.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 0.15 points to close at 1,969.17 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 0.60 points to close at 348. 55 points.

A total of 7,284,272-unit shares of 313 companies were traded for Rs 2. 53 billion.

Meanwhile, Pokhara Finance Ltd. (PFL) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Mai Khola Hydropower Limited (MKHL) was the top loser as its price fell by 7.84 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 12 trillion.

Land and housing transactions are experiencing a slump, mirroring the downturn seen in most other sectors of the Nepali economy. Despite falling interest rates and easy access to bank loans, real estate agents say that demands are not forming.

So much so, the number of transactions has decreased compared to the previous fiscal year when it was difficult to avail of bank loans and interest rates too were high.

To stimulate land and housing transactions, the government lifted restrictions on land plotting by making amendments to the Land Use Regulations last year. Additionally, the central bank has increased the borrowing limit for housing loans. Banks, sitting on loanable funds of more than Rs 600bn, are offering housing loans at single-digit interest rates. However, real estate agents say that the demand for land plots and houses remains subdued.

The central bank has raised the loan-to-value ratio to 50 percent from 30 percent in the Kathmandu Valley to spur demand for loans. Similarly, the ceiling for realty loans has been raised to Rs 200m from Rs 150m. Likewise, the risk weight for real estate loans has been reduced to 125 percent from 150 percent.

According to the Department of Land Management and Archives, 380,175 land and housing transactions were recorded throughout the country in the first nine months of fiscal year 2023/24. The government generated revenue of Rs 29.19bn from these transactions. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, the government mobilized Rs 30.02bn in revenue from 321,307 transactions.

The number of land transactions in the ninth month (mid-March to mid-April) of 2023/24 increased to 50,252 compared to 49,150 in the same period of the previous fiscal year. However, revenue fell by 12.52 percent to Rs 3.94bn.

Although the number of transactions has increased compared to the previous fiscal year, revenue mobilization has declined, suggesting a drop in property prices. Experts, however, argue that since the data also includes properties released by banks or transfer of parental properties, not all can be counted as land and housing transactions.

Real estate agents attribute the current challenges in the real estate sector to the previous tightening of real estate loans by the central bank. They have urged the central bank to increase the debt-to-income ratio to 80 percent from the existing 60 percent.

Data provided by the department shows that land and housing transactions have increased in most of the urban districts in Koshi and Madhesh, while they have decreased in the Kathmandu Valley. Kathmandu Valley, which houses the federal capital Kathmandu, accounts for nearly 42 percent of the organized real estate sector, according to real estate agents.