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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 3.00 points to close at 2,658.94 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 0.86 points to close at 446. 90 points.

A total of 19,754,245-unit shares of 308 companies were traded for Rs 7. 87 billion.

Meanwhile, Nepal Micro Insurance Company Limited (NMIC) and Crest Micro Life Insurance Limited (CREST) were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 9. 99 percent. Likewise, Nepal Hydro Developers Ltd. (NHDL) was the top loser as its price fell by 6.88 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 41 trillion.

With just three months remaining in the current fiscal year, Sudurpaschim Province has spent less than 20 percent of its allocated capital budget, raising concerns over stalled development and poor fiscal management. According to the Provincial Controller of Accounts Office, some ministries have spent as little as two percent of their capital allocations by March. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law has spent only Rs 5.5m out of its Rs 243.2m capital budget—just 2.29 percent. This stagnation reflects a broader failure in both budget formulation and implementation, with critical infrastructure and development projects halted and public expectations unmet.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, with the highest capital budget of Rs 14.1bn, has spent only 24 percent, while the Ministries of Social Development, Agriculture, and Industry have managed to spend only about 10 percent of their respective capital allocations. Despite a change in government and a budget that was already delayed by three months, execution has further slowed. Expenditure figures from the Provincial Controller of Accounts Office show that capital spending across ministries ranged from two percent to 35 percent as of March. The only exceptions were the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, which reported 50 percent capital budget utilization.

The Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers spent Rs 16.7m out of its Rs 33.2m capital allocation, while the Ministry of Economic Affairs spent Rs 12.7m of its Rs 29m capital budget. Conversely, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law has failed to utilize its budget effectively. “Only Rs 5.5m of the Rs 240m capital budget has been spent, just 2.29 percent,” confirmed Provincial Treasurer Basudev Joshi. “The situation is worse than in previous years.”

He emphasized that serious planning for capital expenditure should begin by June at the latest. Internal administrative issues have also played a role. Minister Hirasingh Sarki, from CPN-UML, faced a leadership vacuum after Secretary Sushil Baidya retired in Dec 2024. Baidya’s replacement was delayed, leaving the ministry without a secretary for two months. When Liladhar Subedi, Secretary of the Office of the Chief Minister, was given additional responsibility in March, he rarely attended office.

“He has barely been present—only seven days since March 4—and hasn’t taken any initiative,” said Keshav Chand, the Minister’s personal secretary. “No project moved beyond salaries.” The Ministry of Internal Affairs also oversees the Ministry of Communications, which has a Rs 9m budget. It includes Rs 2m for journalist capacity building via the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Rs 5m for institutional media development, and Rs 2 million for public welfare advertisements.

“I went to the secretary multiple times, but he neither rejected nor approved anything,” said Bharat Bahadur Shah, President of FNJ’s provincial committee. Secretary Subedi has reportedly clashed with staff, conducted random inspections, and failed to coordinate with the minister. His conduct led to calls for his replacement. “He harassed employees and failed to serve the public,” said one source within the ministry.

One significant delay involves a Rs 4 million project for an Armed Police Force (APF) base in Punarbas Municipality. Local resident Siddha Raj Ojha donated 11 katthas of land, but the project stalled due to Subedi’s inaction. “Despite my poor health, I donated the land to protect the border. The work hasn’t started,” Ojha lamented.

The ministry also allocated Rs 7m for a provincial office of the national news agency RSS, but the contract remains unapproved. “We submitted all required documents, but nothing has progressed,” said RSS provincial chief Siddharaj Bhatta.

Frustrated with the deadlock, Minister Sarki has formally requested that Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah replace Secretary Subedi. Attempts to delegate financial authority to Deputy Secretary Dharmananda Joshi also failed after Subedi obstructed the move. Joshi has since requested a transfer. “It’s become routine to bring in people who don’t work and obstruct those who try to,” said Minister Sarki. “Without employee cooperation, capital budget implementation is impossible.”

An official from the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure revealed that most of their reported expenditure—24 percent—consisted of payments for liabilities from the previous fiscal year. “Actual spending for this year may be under five percent,” the official said. Following the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, the Ministry of Social Development has the second-highest capital budget. But it has spent only Rs 217.7m—eight percent of its Rs 2.9bn capital allocation. Its current expenditure is 44 percent, with Rs 1.82bn spent out of a Rs 4bn allocation.

The Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives also faces underperformance. By March, it had spent only Rs 2.27m—8.82 percent of its Rs 272.2m capital budget. It spent Rs 526m of its Rs 2.64bn current budget, just 20 percent. The figures paint a bleak picture of budgetary paralysis in Sudurpaschim, where bureaucratic delays, leadership gaps, and administrative inefficiencies continue to hinder development.

The dividend capacity of commercial banks has reduced despite a 1.4 percent growth in net profit over the first nine months of fiscal year 2024/25. The third-quarter data of banks and financial institutions released by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows the average Return On Equity (RoE) of commercial banks dropped to 7.73 percent over the review period, down from 8.34 percent in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The average RoE was 13.17 percent in the third quarter of 2022/23.

RoE refers to the return that investors receive on their total capital. An average RoE of 7.73 percent means investors received a return of Rs 7.73 for every Rs 100 invested. A lower RoE can indicate that the company is struggling to earn a high return on the capital raised from investors. Twelve out of 20 commercial banks in the country saw their RoE drop in the review period, while eight managed to increase it. Only six banks—Everest Bank, Standard Chartered, NMB, Sanima, Nepal Bank, and Nabil Bank—have RoE in double digits. Everest Bank recorded the highest RoE of 15.82 percent in the third quarter ending mid-April, while NIC Asia has the lowest at just 0.71 percent.

Data shows Nabil Bank, Global IME Bank, Nepal Investment Mega Bank, Everest Bank, NMB Bank, Sanima Bank, Machhapuchhre Bank, and Nepal Bank managed to increase their RoE in the review period, while Prime Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Himalayan Bank, Prabhu Bank, Laxmi Sunrise Bank, Agricultural Development Bank, Nepal SBI Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Citizens Bank, Siddhartha Bank, Kumari Bank, and NIC Asia Bank saw their RoE drop.

Distributable profits plummet

The distributable profits of commercial banks have also turned negative. The combined distributable profit of 20 commercial banks as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2024/25 is negative by Rs 1.67bn. In the same quarter of 2022/23, these banks had distributable profits exceeding Rs 15.28bn. Specifically, the distributable profits of Kumari Bank, Himalayan Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Prabhu Bank, Nepal Investment Mega Bank and Rastriya Banijya Bank are collectively negative by more than Rs 22bn. As a result, even though 14 other banks have positive distributable profits, the overall figure for the banking sector remains negative.

By the end of the third quarter, six banks have negative distributable profits. Four others have distributable profits below three percent, which means they are highly unlikely to pay dividends to their shareholders. Among the 20 commercial banks in the country, Everest Bank has the highest dividend-paying capacity at 34.09 percent, followed by Standard Chartered Bank at 19.35 percent and Sanima Bank at 18.92 percent. Only eight banks have a dividend capacity exceeding 10 percent.

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

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 190, 600 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 103, 500 per tola on Sunday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 190, 400 per tola.

Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 45 and is being traded at Rs 2, 010 per tola today.