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 Last week, banks sent mass SMS to their cardholders (those with internationally accepted debit/credit cards) stating that trans­actions in India had been capped at INRs 100,000 a month. Many Nepali travel to India for medical treatment, study and pilgrimage, for which they often have to spend a lot of money. Banks say they are only following the directive of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

The central bank was forced to act as the country’s foreign exchange reserves have continuously depleted since the start of this fiscal. In the first seven months of 2018/19, for­eign exchange reserves depleted by nearly 6 percent ($590 million), to $9.49 billion. The amount is enough to cover import of goods and ser­vices for no more than eight months.

It is the NRB’s duty to maintain foreign currency liquidity and utilize the reserves in capital formation.

The central bank has slashed cross-border transaction limit from cards in India in the wake of dwin­dling forex reserve. “Due to our fail­ure to earn enough Indian currency, the country needs to spend the reserve of convertible currency for the settlement of the card transac­tions and import,” said Bhishma Raj Dhungana, the executive director of the NRB who also heads its Foreign Exchange Management Division.

The central bank has cut from $2,500 to $1,500 the foreign exchange facility granted against the passport of those travelling abroad.

Similarly, the central bank has also slashed the exchange facility for migrant workers from $500 to $200, which in turn has invited great criti­cism. Migrant workers are the major contributors to the country’s foreign currency reserves. This remittance earning is added to the earnings from tourism, foreign direct invest­ment, reimbursement of foreign loan and grants, and capital transfer.

Contribution of the remittances was 68.5 percent in the total foreign exchange reserve in last fiscal 2017- 18, slightly up from 64.4 percent in fiscal 2016-17, according to NRB. “Such contribution is expected to rise in ongoing fiscal,” says Dhun­gana. Also contributing to the depleting reserves are an increasing number of outbound Nepali travel­ers. According to NRB, outbound Nepalis including migrant workers have spent Rs 54.95 billion in travel.

“Not only are migrant workers and students going. The outflow of Nepalis is also increasing because of incentive tours of corporate houses and attractive travel packages sold by travel agencies,” said Sudesh Gautam Chettri, managing director of ezTrip Pvt Ltd, which sells such travel packages.

On the other hand, the govern­ment has also discouraged lavish imports like luxury private vehicles. Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada has asked bankers not to finance high-end private vehicles costing over Rs 5 million. The central bank has also raised the loan to value ratio (LTV) to 50 percent, which means those who want to purchase vehicles must fork out 50 percent of the value in down payment. In the worst-case scenario, the gov­ernment can curtail imports if its foreign exchange reserves further deteriorate. That would be hard on Nepalis increasingly addicted to for­eign goods in recent times.

Royal Alina’s Bakery Café is one of the oldest and most popular chain restaurants in the valley. It was jointly founded in 1992 by Arjun Bhandari and his business partner Shankar Gurung. Their first outlet was opened in Jawalakhel with an invest­ment of Rs 200,000. The initial space was small with only four sets of tables and chairs and they served piping hot coffee and food. “At that time, most people assumed a restaurant was a place only to gam­ble and drink alcohol. Also there were very few restaurants and not many people visited them,” recalls Bhandari. Royal Alina’s Bakery Café not only helped cre­ate unique restaurant experience in Kathmandu, but also motivated up-and-coming entrepreneurs to emulate its success story. Bhandari, who hails from Ramechhap district, started in the business by working at various restaurants under different capac­ities: helper, waiter, cook, cleaner, etc. He used the experience to acquire intimate knowledge about customer taste and the ambience they prefer.

Sensing untapped potential, Bhan­dari partnered with Gurung to open a family-friendly restaurant. After a year of opening their first outlet in Jawalakhel, they opened their second outlet in New Baneswor in 1993. “We created an environment where children could play inside our premises while enjoying hearty meals and soft drinks with their parents. We did not serve alcohol for the first seven years at Alina’s,” adds Bhandari.

Royal Alina’s has a long legacy of serving quality meals to its cus­tomers. “Our customers range from college students, dating couples, businesspeople, working class people, to government employ­ees,” adds Bhandari. Now, the café has managed to hold its own in terms of services offered, hos­pitality, customer satisfaction and unique coffee flavors.

“Right now, we’re conducting fea­sibility studies for two locations outside the valley. If everything goes well, we will soon be opening new branches in Pokhara and Chitwan,” adds Bhandari. “As veterans of the coffeehouse industry in the country, we plan to further integrate interna­tional norms and standards in our business.”

The distinctive feature of newly revamped outlets of the Royal Alina’s Bakery Cafe are the intri­cately detailed murals show­ing landscapes, villages, and the overall majestic beauty of Nepal. “This helps our customers know about various places of Nepal and motivates them, especially foreigners, to visit such places. We have also given names of the beautiful lakes such as Fewa, Rara and Begnas to our three meet­ing rooms, which are fully equipped with sound-proof materials to block outside noise,” explains Bhandari.

Asked about the challenges to managing a chain restaurant, Bhan­dari believes the key is to focus on customer satisfaction, quality con­tent, friendly ambience and efficient human resources. “If our service staff are happy, positive vibe spreads all around,” says Bhandari.

The country is set to achieve nearly 6.5 percent economic growth in this fiscal, on the back of good agricultural production, growing wholesale and retail trade and post-earthquake reconstruction activities. In that case, Nepal will have achieved high growth for three consecutive fiscals (after 7.91 percent growth in 2016-17, and 6.29 percent growth in 2017-18). For this fiscal, even conservative forecasts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pegged growth at 6.3 percent. But this growth will be hard to sustain. There are numerous chal­lenges. Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada has repeatedly compared the economic problems to a child suffering from diarrhea because of teething troubles.

But experts says Khatiwada has been compromising financial stabil­ity by allowing banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to expand credit to the optimum regulatory level. A large chunk of the credit goes for import financing, which fuels the current account deficit. In the first six month of the ongoing fiscal, cur­rent account deficit widened to Rs 152.16 billion and the country’s bal­ance of payment (BoP) was Rs 63.68 billion in the negative. Meanwhile, total trade deficit widened by 32.1 percent, to Rs 678.53 billion, in the same period.

The widening BoP deficit is a risk to foreign exchange reserve, which has depleted by 6.7 percent since the beginning of this fiscal, to $ 9.41 billion. Based on the imports of six months, foreign exchange holdings of the banking sector is sufficient to cover prospective merchandise and services imports of only 7-8 months. Keshav Acharya, a former advisor to the Ministry of Finance, terms the situation as ‘alarming’.

Recently, the IMF said that expan­sionary fiscal and credit policies are leading to rising non-food inflation, widening current account deficit, falling foreign exchange reserves, and a buildup of financial sector vulnerabilities. IMF expects the financial sector to cool off and remit­tances to decrease.

Economist Acharya says the gov­ernment should promote sustainable growth backed by manufacturing and agricultural production. Growth backed by production and construc­tion create jobs and strengthen the production base. “Growth led by the production sector can bring eco­nomic well-being for people at large, and that is the country’s need,” he says. “On the other hand, growth fueled by imports is unhealthy and unsustainable”.

 Agni Incorporated Pvt Ltd, established in 1991, is the authorized distributor of Mahindra utility vehicles and tractors. With iconic products like the Scorpio and Bolero plying the country’s terrains from east to west, and the plush Mahindra XUV 500 which out­classes many in its category, Mahindra’s presence in Nepal is helped by Agni’s extensive network comprising 45 dealers and branches across the coun­try. Agni is also known for its robust after-sales service and highly trained manpower. Sijan Neupane, senior mar­ket manager for Agni Incorpo­rated Pvt Ltd, talks to Sunny Mahat about Mahindra’s mar­ket presence and the upcoming Mahindra Udaya Festival.

Mahindra Udaya festival?

This is our first-ever lifestyle and auto show presented jointly by the Agni Incorporated, MV Dugar, Swaraj partners and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. In the event, we plan to display Mahindra’s range of world-class products, from two wheelers to passenger vehicles to trucks and buses to electric vehicles to tractors and diesel gensets. The event will also showcase Mahin­dra’s new range passenger vehicles— Marazzo, and XUV 300, the power­ful compact SUV, for the first time in Nepal.

The event to be held at Bhrikuti Mandap, Kathmandu from Feb 22 to 24 will not only display the 35-plus Mahindra products available in Nepal, but will also be a fun-filled affair for children and artists alike with food stalls, live musical perfor­mances and other entertainment activities. Not only do we want to display our products, but also create a pleasant experience for everyone attending.

In Mahindra Udaya, we plan to display Mahindra’s range of world-class products

Which Mahindra segment sells the most in Nepal?

The glamour and glitz of our SUVs make them the most highlighted among all Mahindra products. The Scorpio, Bolero and XUV 500 are some of the highest selling models and for their price, they are much superior to most competitors.

But does Mahindra lack market penetration at the entry level and the luxury passenger seg­ments?

Mahindra’s DNA is based on SUVs. They are the biggest reason behind its success and we think we should continue capitalizing on our strength. Thus, hatchbacks and sedans are not in the company’s priority. But we do have the entry level KUV 100, which is doing well in the market.

For Mahindra, Scorpio, XUV500 and Bolero are the best-selling mod­els in Nepal and despite being a niche product, the relatively newly launched Thar is also gaining in popularity.

The biggest fear in the auto sec­tor, I think is, selling a wrong car to a wrong passenger which creates more negative word of mouth. So we, at Agni, do not focus much on push sales.

How is the market for Mahindra’s Electric Vehicles?

We have been rolling out the E2O models of electric vehicles after Mahindra acquired Reva, which already had a significant presence in Nepal. The E2O mod­els come at prices starting at Rs 2 million, which is significantly cheaper than what was available earlier. Hence the sales of our EVs have increased tremendously. The demands for EVs have increased in India too and right now, we are getting sold out with every batch of import.

Does Mahindra plan on launch­ing bigger and newer models of electric vehicles?

At present, many established manufacturers are producing elec­tric vehicles. Mahindra is also tak­ing part in this run towards more energy efficient vehicles. Mahindra is planning to launch the XUV 500 and KUV 100 in electric models. They will come to the market soon.

Sales wise, where do you sell the most vehicles in Nepal?

Kathmandu amounts to only 30-35 percent of our total sales. Our major chunk of sales is outside Kathmandu. Our strong network across the country helps us cater to all parts of Nepal.