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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 19. 12 points to close at 1,850.61 points on Sunday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 3. 14 points to close at 354. 78 points. A total of 2,015,959-unit shares of 263 companies were traded for Rs 608 billion. Meanwhile, Aatmanirbhar Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 8. 22 percent. Likewise, NMB Debenture was the top loser with its price dropping by 8. 83 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 69 trillion.

The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has issued Letters of Intent (LOIs) for the license of securities businessmen (securities brokers and securities dealers) to additional 13 brokerage firms. The Sebon board meeting on Wednesday decided to issue the LoIs. The Sebon had issued LoIs to 16 firms earlier this week. The brokerage firms receiving LoIs on Wednesday are Sunrise Capital, JBNL Securities, Sharepro Securities, Stockesescarts Securities, Property Wizard Limited, Capital Hub Pvt Ltd, Milky Way Share Broker Company, Blue Chip Securities, Garima Securities, Kalas Stock Market, Money World Share Exchange, Subhakamana Securities, and Miyo Securities. After Sebon invited applications for new stock brokerage licenses, a total of 45 companies applied for the license. The Sebon on May 1 had issued LoI to 16 companies in the first phase. Of the 16 companies that received LoIs from Sebon for stock brokerage licenses, seven are the subsidiaries of commercial banks.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 1, 200 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 110, 600 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 111, 000 per tola on Thursday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 110, 050 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,445 per tola today.

With hardly three weeks left for the government to bring the federal budget for the next fiscal year 2023/24, the government on Wednesday replaced the Finance Secretary. Transferring the incumbent Finance Secretary Toyam Raya to the Office of the Vice President, Arjun Pokharel has been brought in at the Finance Ministry. The reshuffle of the top bureaucratic post in the Finance Ministry was doing rounds in the past few weeks in Singha Durbar after Dr. Prakash Saran Mahat was appointed as the Finance Minister. However, the replacement of the finance secretary ahead of the federal budget has invited more questions at a time when the government is drafting a new budget amid a severe resource crunch. Economists say that given the current state of the economy, the next federal budget should be prepared with utmost planning and that frequently replacing the Finance Secretary doesn't augur well for the budget preparations and the country’s economy. In fact, the Finance Ministry has seen four secretaries over the past year. When FY 2022/23 started, Madhu Marasini was the Finance Secretary. However, he left the ministry following a dispute with the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Then, Krishna Hari Pushkar was appointed to the post and replaced by Toyam Raya later when the new government was formed after the parliamentary elections and Bishnu Poudel became the Finance Minister. Poudel brought in Raya as new Finance Secretary who hardly spent four months at the ministry before he was replaced by Arjun Pokharel. Hard hit by the resource crunch, the government is not in a situation to announce new programs and projects in the next fiscal year's budget. The National Planning Commission (NPC) has also recommended the government to reduce the budget ceiling. Given the mismatch between revenue collection and expenditure, the NPC has set a limit of Rs 1,688.4bn for the next year's federal budget. The government has set a target of raising Rs 1403bn in revenue in this fiscal year. However, in the first 10 and half months, it has succeeded to collect only Rs 713bn which is only 50.84 percent of the target. With revenue worth Rs 2.5bn being collected daily, it looks quite impossible to meet the revenue collection target in the next 70 days. Economists are of the view that since the revenue collection has been very poor in this fiscal year, there is no possibility to increase the revenue estimate for the next fiscal year. They say, if there is no increment in revenue, there will be no space to bring more programs. While the current situation demands a prudent budget, the developments in recent weeks including bringing in a new finance secretary suggest the Finance Ministry could succumb to the pressure of the political leadership. Sources at the NPC and Finance Ministry said there has been pressure on them to increase the budget ceiling. Lawmakers and political leaders have been asking for special projects, especially in their constituencies. The Nepali Congress lawmakers have already asked the finance minister to reintroduce the highly controversial Local Infrastructure Development Partnership Program, popularly known as the 'constituency development fund'. As per the constitutional obligation, the government has to present the federal budget on Jestha 15 (May 29). With only 24 days left for the budget presentation in the parliament, the Finance Secretary has many tasks, including preparing crucial documents such as the government's policies and programs, economic survey, and economic act, apart from the budget. Analysts say the new finance secretary will have limited time to grasp the severity of the situation and prepare such documents. "Bringing a new person as Finance Secretary just ahead of the budget will not give a good signal," said economist Keshav Acharya. "There is very little time for the new finance secretary." According to him, the need of the hour is an experienced and responsible person in the Ministry of Finance who can convince the Prime Minister, Ministers, and other stakeholders.