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The European Union (EU) has shown its interest in investing in Nepal's hydropower sector through the European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the EU. According to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the EU has expressed its desire to invest in the 635 ME Dudh Koshi Reservoir Project through the consortium financing of international financial institutions. A high-level team of EU made an on-site inspection of the under-construction 220 KV Chilime-Trishuli Transmission Line Project last Monday. A delegation led by EU's Asia Director, Peteris Ustubs visited the project site under construction in Nuwakot and Rasuwa on Monday. "After observing the progress of the project, the EU has shown its desire to invest in other projects as well," said Kulman Ghising, Executive Director of NEA. According to Ghising, the EU is interested in investing in the production, transmission, and distribution of hydropower in Nepal through the EIB and has shown eagerness in investing in the proposed 635 MW Dudhkoshi Reservoir project, he said. "EU officials are positive for investing in other projects after seeing progress in the construction of the Chilime-Trishuli transmission line," said Ghising. The Dudhkoshi Project is one of the important projects being initiated by the NEA. The government through the federal budget of FY 2022/23 has allocated Rs 940 million for its construction. The total cost of the project has been estimated at USD 1.523 billion and it will take six years to build the dam and other structures. The main dam will have a height of 220 meters and hold back 1,581 cubic megameters of water. The snowmelt-fed Dudh Koshi River originates in the foothills of Mt Everest, allowing the plant to perform efficiently even in the dry season. The project will produce 3,443 GWh annually In 1998, the Canadian International Water and Energy Consultants carried out the first feasibility study and suggested generating 300 MW from the plant. In 2013, a review of the feasibility study carried out by the electricity authority upgraded the capacity to 635 MW. EIB has been providing assistance in Nepal's hydropower sector. It has provided a concessional loan for the construction of the Chilime-Trishuli Transmission Line Project which has a total cost of USD 39 million. The EU delegation inspected Trishuli 3B hub substation and transmission line under construction at Dandagaon located in Uttargaya Rural Municipality-2 of Rasuwa district. In addition to the Chilime-Trishuli transmission line, EIB has provided concessional loans for the 140 MW Tanahun Hydropower Project, the 220 kV Masryangdi Corridor Transmission Line, and the electrification of the districts of Far West and Lumbini provinces. The Chilime-Trishuli 220 KV transmission line is being constructed to evacuate power from the hydropower projects under construction and to be built on the Trishuli river and its tributaries. The overall physical progress of the project has reached 81 percent with the progress of the transmission line and substation being 71 percent and 70 percent, respectively. The construction of transmission lines and substations is being carried out in a fast manner with the aim of completing the project within March 2023.  

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 76.64 points to close at 2,177.34 points on Tuesday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 12.72 points to close at 414. 87 points. A total of 9,333,788 unit shares of 260 companies were traded for Rs 3. 36 billion. Meanwhile, Barun Hydropower Co. Limited, Khanikhola Hydropower Co. Ltd, Radhi Bidyut Co. Ltd and Adarsha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited were sthe top gainer today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent. ICFC Finance Limited Debenture was the top loser as its price fell by 5.90 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 14 trillion.

There has been a sharp decline in the profits of national-level development banks in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2022/23. According to the unaudited financial reports published by the banks for the second quarter, their net profit has decreased by an average of 20.90 percent. Currently, there are eight national-level development banks operating in Nepal. The second quarter reports of the banks show their profit stood at Rs 2.53 billion in the review period compared to Rs 3.20 billion during the same period of FY 2021/22. The net profit of the banks declined by Rs 669.3 million in this fiscal year which is much higher than that of commercial banks. The profit of 22 commercial banks decreased by 1.34 percent during the first half of the current fiscal. Among the development banks, Jyoti Bikas Bank has the highest profit decline in terms of percentage. The bank saw its profit plunge by 89.91 percent in this fiscal year. Jyoti Bikas earned a profit of Rs 34.7 million in this fiscal compared to Rs 344 million during the same period of the last fiscal. Similarly, Kamana Sewa Bikas Bank saw its profit decline by 43.01 percent during this period. The bank's profit reduced to 195.8 million in the first half of this fiscal compared to Rs 343.6 million in the same period of the last fiscal. Sangrila Development Bank's profit decreased by 36.4 percent. The bank's profit plunged to Rs 166.5 million in the first six months of the current fiscal year from Rs 261.8 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Similarly, the profit of Mahalakshmi Bikas Bank and Lumbini Bikas Bank decreased by 30.73 percent and 25.78 percent respectively. Profits of 3 development banks increase  The second quarter reports show profits of three national-level development banks surged in the first half of the current fiscal year. The net profit of Muktinath Bikas Bank increased by 3.91 percent, Garima Bikas Bank by 1.86 percent and Shine Resunga Development Bank by 23.15 percent. The net profit of Muktinath Bikas Bank stood at Rs 626.2 million in this fiscal compared to Rs 602.4 million in the last fiscal. Similarly, the profit of Garima Bikas Bank increased to Rs 502.1 million in this fiscal from Rs 492.9 million in the last fiscal. The profit of Shine Resunga increased to Rs 429.6 million this fiscal from Rs 348.83 million in the last fiscal. The decline in profits of development banks in the current fiscal year is attributed to the severe liquidity crunch and high-interest rates. As banks struggle to recover loan installments and interest, their profit took a beating. This resulted in an increase in non-performing loans for which development banks had to arrange additional money for loan-loss provisioning.

The eight-months long import restrictions have made quite an impact on the country's foreign trade. Official statistics show Nepal's imports declined by 20.68 percent and trade deficit by 19.15 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year. While the import restrictions on vehicles, expensive mobile sets, and foreign liquors, helped the country to avert a looming forex reserves crisis, the government's revenue, which is import-centric, took a big beating in the first half of the current fiscal year. Nepal's imports have declined by 20.68 percent while exports slumped by 32.01 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year. According to the latest foreign trade data released by the Department of Customs (DoC), the country's import bill stood at Rs 792.66 billion in the first half of FY 2022/23 compared to Rs 999.34 billion during the same period of FY 2021/22. Similarly, the export bill stood at Rs 80.80 billion in the review period compared to Rs 118.85 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The country's overall foreign trade declined by 21.89 percent to Rs 873.47 billion in the first half of FY 2022/23. With the slowdown in economic activities and a contraction in the overall market demand as a persistently high inflation rate and a squeeze in liquidity in the financial put a dent in the pockets of consumers, the imports of high revenue-generating goods such as industrial raw materials, gold, mobile phones, vehicles, crude soyabean oil, and crude palm oil have declined in this fiscal. On the other hand, the import of agricultural products has increased due to the inability to increase the production of agricultural goods that can be produced domestically. It is not only the imports that have declined; the worrying fact is the country's exports have also decreased during this period. As per DoC data, Nepal's exports have declined by 32 percent to Rs 80.80 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year, particularly due to the dramatic decline in the exports of palm oil, soyabean oil, and sunflower oil to India. In the last 2-3 years, Nepal’s export figure has largely been dominated by two products—palm oil and soyabean oil, which are basically not produced in Nepal. The edible oils are brought in crude form, refined and packaged in Nepal-based refineries and exported to India. It is believed that many producers even import refined oils, repackage and label the products and export them to India which has no to little value addition as products made in Nepal. The ballooning of exports of edible oils led Nepal’s overall exports to touch the Rs 200 billion mark for the first time in history in FY 2021/22. The contribution of edible oils to the country's overall export was Rs 93.69 billion. Nepal export palm oil and soyabean oil worth Rs 89.18 billion in the last fiscal year which accounts for around 45 percent of Nepal’s total exports. However, the exports of edible oils have slumped massively in the first half of FY 2022/23. The exports of palm oil slumped to Rs 13.08 billion from Rs 31.97 billion. Likewise, exports of soyabean oil also dipped to Rs 8 billion in the first six months of this fiscal from Rs 34.26 billion in the same period last fiscal year. Despite the huge drop in the export of edible oils, official data suggest that there has not been a significant drop in other products which are exported on a large scale. The country’s exports of these products suffered after India lowered its customs tariff to help tame the rising inflation in October 2021. The largest South Asian economy lowered the import duty on crude varieties of palm oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil to zero. However, after taking into account the 5 percent agri cess and 10 percent social welfare cess, the effective duty on crude forms of these three types of edible oil is at 5.5 percent. At the start of 2021, effective customs duty on palm, soybean and sunflower oils reached as high as 35.75 percent. With the Indian government removing the import duty on these edible oils, the duty differential advantage Nepali exporters had was gone. Nepal currently levies a one percent customs duty and a 13 percent VAT on the import of these three types of edible oil. The Indian government’s decision to abolish customs duty on raw soybean oil and palm oil has badly affected Nepal's exports. The producers are currently exporting the edible oils only one-fifth of what they used to export until India abolished the import duty. And, it seems India will not hike duty on the import of these products anytime soon. In late December last year, the Indian government extended the policy of keeping lower tariffs on vegetable oil till March 2024. These products also don’t qualify to get the export subsidies that the government announced through the budget for the current fiscal year. Foreign Trade (First Six Months)