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The export of gold jewelry, which had increased in the past few years, has decreased significantly in the current fiscal year. The latest foreign trade statistics of the Department of Customs (DoC) show the export of gold jewelry declined by a whopping 70 percent in the first six months of FY 2022/23. According to DoC data, Nepal exported gold jewelry worth Rs 105.1 million in the first half of the current fiscal year compared to Rs 344.9 million in the same period of the last fiscal year. Nepali traders have been exporting gold ornaments to the US, Australia and Hong Kong in recent years. A total of 38 kg of gold jewelry worth Rs 387.1 million were exported in FY 2020/21. It increased to 61 kg in FY 2021/22 when Nepal exported gold jewelry worth Rs 532.7 million. In this fiscal, Nepal has exported gold jewelry worth Rs 84.1 million to the US and Rs 20.9 million to Australia. According to Manik Ratna Shakya, President of Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, the export of jewelry has been affected especially due to the shortage of raw gold in the country. With forex reserves depleting, the Nepal Rastra Bank in the last fiscal year resorted to slashing the gold import limits from daily 20 kg to 10 kg. Bullion traders, however, said that 10 kg of gold is not enough to meet the domestic demand. "There is not enough gold available in the market to produce jewelry for export purposes," said Shakya. According to Shakya, when the import limit was reduced, importers of precious metals were told that jewelry exporters would be allowed to import gold separately or special arrangements would be made for them. " However, no such arrangement was made," said Shakya, adding, "As a result, the export of gold jewelry has been badly affected." Bullion traders said the demand for gold jewelry is huge among Nepalis living abroad. "The demand for original jewelry from Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) has been increasing. However, the demand could not be fulfilled due to a lack of gold," said Shakya. "If the export of gold jewelry is increased, the country's foreign exchange income would also increase." Gold imports down by 50 percent With the central bank reducing the import limit, the overall import of yellow metal has also decreased by 50 percent. Nepal has imported gold worth Rs 10.95 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year. Such import during the same period of the last fiscal was Rs 22.03 billion. According to Customs Department data, a total of 1,516 kgs of gold has been imported in this fiscal compared to 3,188 kgs in the last fiscal year.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 700 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 106, 900 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 106, 200 per tola on Wednesday. This is the highest ever recorded price in the domestic market. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 106, 400 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 15 and is being traded at Rs 1,380 per tola today.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 10.37 points to close at 2,183.62 points on Wednesday. Similarly, the sensitive index plunged by 1.30 points to close at 414. 24 points. A total of 9,532,867 unit shares of 261 companies were traded for Rs 3. 46 billion. Meanwhile, Greenlife Hydropower Limited and Adarsha Laghubitta Bittiya Sansth Limited were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent. RPP Mutual Fund was the top loser as its price fell by 5.70 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 15 trillion.

There has been a significant increase in non-performing loans (NPL) of commercial banks in the first half of the current fiscal year. The financial reports of 21 commercial banks for the second quarter show bad loans of the banks increasing by 116 percent. The average NPL of commercial banks has increased to 2.29 percent in the first half of FY 2022/23 compared to 1.06 percent during the same period of FY 2021/22. Bankers say NPLs have risen mainly due to the non-recovery of debts. As the private sector struggled with rising borrowing rates and a sharp slowdown in market demand, banks have been struggling to recover the loans. The non-payment of loan installment and interest has increased in this fiscal year, according to bankers. Had there been economic activity, it would have been easier for borrowers to pay the debt and interest on time, they say. The Nepal Rastra Bank implemented the guidelines on working capital loans in mid-October 2022 in order to stop the misuse of credit and control the trend of paying the banks' interest by taking loans. Businessmen and industrialists who used to take loans from banks to pay interest were unable to pay interest after the implementation of working capital loan guidelines which also contributed to the rise in the NPL of banks. The profits of banks have also been affected by the increment in bad loans as they have to keep aside large amounts of money for the provisioning of bad loans. Provisioning is a practice where banks are required to maintain a certain amount in reserve when loans are not recovered. Of the 21 commercial banks that have published their second quarter report, the Agriculture Development Bank Limited (ADBL) has the highest NPL. The bank's NPL has increased to 4.52 percent by mid-January compared to 2.08 percent during the same period of the last fiscal. The profit of the ADBL has decreased by a whopping 109.06 percent in the first half of the current fiscal. The bank has incurred a loss of 0.128 billion in the first half of FY 2022/23 compared to a profit of 1.42 billion during the same period of FY 2021/22. Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL), Sunrise Bank, Kumari Bank, and Nepal Bank are the other four banks whose NPL is above 3 percent. The HBL's NPL has reached 3.77 percent in the first half of FY 2022/23 compared to 0.72 percent during the same period of FY 2021/22. Sunrise Bank's NPL increased to 3.36 percent in mid-January 2023 from 1.40 percent in mid-January 2022. The NPL of Kumari Bank and Nepal Bank has increased to 3.15 percent and 3.11 percent, respectively. The NPL of Kumari Bank increased mainly due to the merger with NCC Bank. As the NCC Bank had a higher NPL, Kumari Bank's overall bad loan increased after the merger. Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) is the only commercial bank that has its NPL decreased in this fiscal year. The government-owned bank has been able to reduce its bad loans by 9.67 percent during the review period. The RBB's NPL has decreased to 2.79 percent in mid-January 2023 from 3.06 percent in mid-January 2022.     NPLs of Commercial Banks