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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 29. 08 points to close at 1,934.47 points on Thursday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 29. 07 points to close at 1,934.47 points. A total of 4,913,702-unit shares of 270 companies were traded for Rs 1. 65 billion. Meanwhile, Adarsha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited, Kalinchowk Darshan Limited and Molung Hydropower Company Limited are the top gainers today with their price surging by 10.00 percent. Likewise, Siddharatha Investment Growth Scheme is the top loser with its price dropped by 5. 50 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 81 trillion.

One hundred and eighty Chinese tourists have arrived here on a chartered flight of Himalayan Airlines. The team of the Chinese tourists arrived in Kathmandu on the eve of the Nepali New Year this morning through Nepal Big Mountain Travel. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sudan Kiranti, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Chen Song, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Dr Dhananjay Regmi, among others welcomed the Chinese tourists. Talking to media persons, Minister Kiranti said they were very happy to welcome such a large number of Chinese tourists for the first time after the coronavirus pandemic and on the eve of the Nepali New year. "Guests are god. We always welcome foreign guests as God," he mentioned. Minister Kiranti expressed the belief that such activities would help further strengthen Nepal-China relations. Saying there was a great role of the Chinese government in construction of Pokhara International Airport, he opined that Nepal has wanted to directly connect Pokhara International Airport with China by air. Minister Kiranti expressed hope that Chinese tourists would like Nepal as some of the cities of Nepal are similar to Chinese cities. Similarly, Chinese Ambassador Song said China has allowed Chinese tourists to go abroad after coronavirus came under control. He said that he was very happy to welcome the Chinese tourists in Nepal. Likewise, CEO Regmi mentioned that with the arrival of Chinese tourists, Nepal's tourism industry, which has been hit hard since 2019, is more excited. Nepal should be involved in tourism promotion targeting Chinese and Indian tourists, he added. Proprietor of Nepal Big Mountain Travel and tourism entrepreneur Sudarshan Nepal expressed happiness over the arrival of Chinese tourists after China on March 10 put Nepal on the list of tourism destinations after the coronavirus pandemic. The Chinese tourists would visit various tourist sites of Kathmandu Valley as well as Poon Hill during their one-week stay in Nepal.  

Two years after it exited from Nepal, IHG Hotels & Resorts, the British multinational hospitality company, is again entering the country with a larger presence. This time, IHG has tied up with Shangri-La Hotel and Resort Group, one of Nepal's leading hospitality groups, with a management agreement to develop four new hotel properties in Nepal. Earlier, IHG was in a management partnership with the five-star Soaltee Hotel that ended in May 2021. The new hotels under the partnership with Shangri-La Group are InterContinental Kathmandu, Lazimpat, Hotel Indigo Pokhara, Gharipatan, InterContinental Resort Pokhara, Begnas Lake, and InterContinental Resort Chitwan, Meghauli. The agreement will see IHG adding close to 500 rooms to its portfolio in Nepal. Two of IHG's global brands, InterContinental and Hotel Indigo will also make their debut in the Nepali market. Currently under construction, the new hotels are scheduled to open in the next 1-4 years. According to Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South West Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, the strategic location of all four hotels in different key tourism destinations of Nepal provides IHG with a great opportunity to offer world-class hospitality. “We are delighted to introduce two of our leading brands from the luxury and lifestyle portfolio, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Hotel Indigo, to Nepal," said Jain. Prasidha B. Panday, Chairman of Shangri-La Hotel & Resort Group said that partnership with IHG to open four new hotels will help to offer world-class hospitality to guests at a time when travel to Nepal has increased exponentially. "All new hotels will be located in top tourism hubs, and we expect to benefit from the strength and scale of IHG’s global systems, technology, and a strong loyalty program,” said Panday. InterContinental Kathmandu Lazimpat will be redeveloped on the same site as Shangri-la Kathmandu Hotel, which is one of the iconic hotels of Nepal. The Hotel Indigo Pokhara is located in Pokhara’s Gharipatan area and features 100-rooms The InterContinental Pokhara Begnas Lake is an 80 rooms hotel. Similarly, the InterContinental Resort Chitwan is located in the popular tourist destination of Mehgauli. The resort will feature 80 rooms. Of late, the IHG Group is expanding its presence in Nepal. In March 2021, the group signed a management agreement with the Swornim Hotel Pokhara Pvt. Ltd. to develop the Holiday Inn Express Pokhara Lakeside.

Commercial banks have decided to reduce the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digits. A meeting of the Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) on Wednesday decided to lower the deposit interest rate effective from April 14, the Nepali new year 2080 BS. Over the past year, interest rates have been a subject of much debate and controversy with the business community, in particular, blaming high borrowing as one of the main reasons for the current economic slowdown in the country. In March, NBA fixed the interest rate on fixed deposits for individual depositors at 11 percent. Under huge pressure from the private sector, the association of bank CEOs has decided to reduce it to 9.99 percent for individual depositors effective from the new year. Similarly, the interest rate for institutional deposits will come down to 7.99 percent from the current 9 percent. The NBA has decided to reduce the interest rate of institutional and individual term deposits by 1.01 percentage points. Similarly, interest rates on savings account deposits have been set at a minimum of 5.40 percent to a maximum of 7.40 percent. Currently, the interest rate for savings account deposits ranges from a minimum of 6 percent to a maximum of 8 percent. Likewise, the interest rate on call deposits has been lowered to 2.7 percent from 3 percent at present. With this decision of the bankers, the interest rates on deposits will come to single digits after 11 months. The deposit interest rate was 9.96 percent in May last year which increased to 10.12 percent in June. The interest rate on deposits kept on increasing until January this year. Since January, banks have been lowering deposit interest rates for each month except for March. Considering the severe shortage of investment-grade liquidity in the financial system seen since last year, interest rates on both deposits and lending kept on rising. With the liquidity situation easing in the past 5-6 months, banks are in a better position in terms of liquidity management. The high interest rate has increased the cost of funds for banks. In addition, the demand for loans declined sharply as economic activities slowed dramatically. Currently, banks have around Rs 200 billion of investible funds. Lending rate also to decrease The lending rate is also expected to come down after NBA slashed interest rates on deposits. The cost of funds banks is high due to the interest rate of deposits. In that case, if the cost comes down, the base rate will also be reduced, and thus, the lending rate will decrease automatically. However, it may take some time before the lending rate comes down. Bankers say the lending rate will be set according to the previously reduced deposit interest rate for now. Banks have been calculating the base rate on a quarterly basis. and the last quarter of the current fiscal year starts from Baisakh. This way, the effect of the interest rate cut in Baisakh will be seen in Shrawan (July-August). The banks will also have to reduce the spread rate to 4 percent by the end of Ashad (mid-July) which is currently 4.4 percent. The Nepal Rastra Bank has instructed the banks to lower the spread rate to 4.2 percent by the end of Chaitra (mid-April) and 4 percent by the end of Ashad. As a result, bankers say that the lending rate will decrease. The private sector has been demanding to slash the interest rate. In response, the government has said that the demand of the business community will be met. Speaking at the 57th General Assembly of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Finance Minister Dr. Prakash Saran Mahat also assured to reduce the interest rate. However, on the same day, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said in a press meet that the interest rate will be determined by the market and not by the central bank.