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The price of gold has increased by Rs 600 per tola in the domestic market on Monday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 104, 100 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 103, 500  per tola on Sunday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 103, 600 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1,255 per tola today.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 26. 80 points to close at 1,975.89 points on Sunday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 5. 55 points to close at 373. 95 points. A total of 4,772,140 unit shares of 260 companies were traded for Rs 1. 66 billion. Meanwhile, Shuvam Power Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 9. 98 percent. Likewise, Goodwill Finance Limited Debeanture was the top loser with its price dropped by 6. 55 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 86 trillion.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 700 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 103, 500 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 101, 800  per tola on Thursday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 103, 000 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 25 is being traded at Rs 1,245 per tola today.

Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has decided to slash the interest rate of savings while keeping the interest rate of fixed deposits unchanged. The new rate will come into effect from March 15. A meeting of the NBA on Thursday decided to reduce the interest rate of saving deposits as well as call deposits. The bankers have also agreed to reduce the loan premium rate. The NBA decided to cut the interest rate on saving deposits by 0.42 percentage points. Currently, the interest rate on saving deposits ranges from a minimum of 6.42 percent to a maximum of 8.42 percent. This means the interest rate on saving deposits will be in the range of 6-8 percent from mid-March. Banks have also agreed to reduce the interest rate of call deposits by 0.21 percentage points which currently stands at 3.21 percent. Now, they have agreed to fix a 3 percent interest rate on call deposits. However, bankers have kept the interest rate on fixed deposits unchanged for the time being. The bankers did not change the interest rate on fixed deposits fearing that such a move could infuriate the depositors and lead to the withdrawal of deposits. "In that situation, there would again be pressure on the liquidity situation. Keeping that in mind, the interest rate on fixed deposits has been kept unchanged," said Sharma. The banks had reduced the interest rate on fixed deposits to 11 percent in Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) from 12.13 percent. Bankers have also decided to reduce the loan premium rate by 1 percentage point. At present, banks have been determining the interest rate of loans with a premium of up to 6 percentage points on the base rate. Now, banks have agreed to determine the interest rate by adding a maximum of 5 percentage points to the base rate from mid-March. Banks were increasingly criticized for charging high premiums on loans as some of the banks' premiums were as high as 8 percent. With banks deciding to reduce the interest rate on savings, the interest rate on loans will also decrease in the coming days. The share of savings and call deposits in the total deposits of banks is about one-third. As the interest rate on deposits declines, it will bring down the banks' expenses to some extent. According to Anil Sharma, executive director of NBA, the meeting decided to reduce the interest rate to provide relief to the borrowers. "Lately, the borrowers are finding it difficult to pay the installments. Hence, we have decided to cut the interest rate on savings and call deposits which will lead to a reduction in the interest rate of loans," said Sharma. Amid the increasing discontent of the private sector over interest rates, and the rage of businesspersons spreading across the country in recent months, banks were under pressure to reduce the interest rates. With higher interest rates on lending making loans costlier on one hand and drying up the demand for loans on other hand, bankers have reached a conclusion to make loans cheaper. The private sector organizations have been complaining that many small and medium enterprises have been pushed to the wall by increased interest rates just as they were emerging from the pandemic. Last November, members of the business community took to the streets against the high-interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions. The interest rate cut was the top agenda of the private sector when they met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal last week and Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala on Tuesday. As the loan interest has become expensive, some businesspersons led by controversial businessman Durga Prasain have initiated a campaign of not repaying the loans. On the other hand, there is also pressure on the government and the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to revitalize the market and the economy by reducing interest rates.