Planning commission puts Bhotekoshi flood loss at Rs 472.66 billion, Bizshala reports

Planning commission puts the Bhotekoshi flood's loss at Rs 472.66 billion and recovery at about Rs 707 billion, Bizshala reports

A preliminary assessment by the National Planning Commission puts the loss from the Bhadau 10 (August 26) Bhotekoshi-Trishuli flood at Rs 472.66 billion, Bizshala reported late on Friday. Physical damage makes up Rs 282.90 billion. Lost production, trade and business make up Rs 189.76 billion.

Rebuilding and recovery would need about Rs 707 billion, and growth could come in about one percentage point below the 7 percent target, according to the report. No commission document was found, and the report gives no release date. Bizshala's breakdown of the recovery need falls about Rs 120 billion short of its own total.

On the same day Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle told a parliamentary committee that the government has started raising the money, mostly through talks with India, China, the World Bank and the ADB, OnlineKhabar English reported. He expects them to cover about 80 percent. OnlineKhabar put his figure at $4 billion to $5 billion over three to five years, the range he first gave in August. Clickmandu printed $4.7 billion to $5 billion.

There will be no supplementary budget above the Rs 2,124 billion ceiling, Wagle said, as Clickmandu reported. Existing allocations will be reprioritised instead. The government is also preparing to give about Rs 10 billion from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund to the infrastructure ministry for roads and bridges, Bizshala reported. No decision on that has been reported.

Why it matters: A joint commission and disaster authority team put the reconstruction need at Rs 723.31 billion in September, The Kathmandu Post reported then. None of Friday's reports says how much of the money would be grants and how much loans.

Anti-cyber scam centre due to start on Friday has 114 staff, 60 of them from banks

The anti-cyber scam centre due to start on Friday at the Nepal Police Cyber Bureau in Samakhusi has 114 staff over three shifts, 60 from commercial banks and 33 from the police, The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur reported.

NEPSE gains 2.64 points to 2,655.22 as turnover falls to Rs 3.46 billion

NEPSE rose 2.64 points to 2,655.22 on Friday, Kantipur and OnlineKhabar English reported. Turnover dropped to Rs 3.46 billion from Rs 4.72 billion on Thursday.

Prices of 158 companies rose and 107 fell, with 14 unchanged, according to OnlineKhabar. It said 11 of 12 sub-indices gained. Non-life insurance led with 0.65 percent, and the Others group fell 0.88 percent. The index reached 2,661 at 1:07 pm before it eased back.

Gold falls Rs 5,900 to Rs 283,000 a tola on Dhanteras, Merolagani reports

Gold fell Rs 5,900 to Rs 283,000 a tola on Friday, Dhanteras, according to the dealers' federation rate Merolagani reported. It had jumped Rs 13,300 to Rs 288,900 on Thursday, OnlineKhabar reported then.

Central bank sells no gold coins on Friday after its stock runs out, OnlineKhabar reports

Nepal Rastra Bank sold no gold asarfi on Friday because Thursday's sales used up its stock, OnlineKhabar English reported. It sold 4,500 on Thursday at Rs 65,400 each. Silver medallions went down to Rs 3,700 from Rs 3,800.

Special Court asks for China Exim loan records in the Pokhara airport case

The Special Court ordered the civil aviation authority to produce China CAMC Engineering's bills and payments, and the debt office the China Exim Bank loan records, in the Pokhara airport case, Clickmandu and Bizshala reported. The anti-graft commission alleges a Rs 3.62 billion loss.

Dry fruit imports reach Rs 3.07 billion in three months, Bizshala reports

Nepal imported Rs 3.07 billion of dry fruits in the first three months of FY 2083/84 and collected more than Rs 1.38 billion in revenue on them, Bizshala reported from Customs Department figures. It gives no comparison with last year.

Telecom regulator spent 0.26 percent of its capital budget last year, Clickmandu reports

The Nepal Telecommunications Authority spent about Rs 700,000 of its Rs 266.6 million capital budget in FY 2082/83, or 0.26 percent, Clickmandu reported on Friday from the authority's annual report.

Its own fund spent Rs 230.2 million of Rs 783.5 million, 29.38 percent. The Rural Telecommunications Development Fund spent Rs 210 million of Rs 2.41 billion, or 8.71 percent. The authority and the government collected Rs 17.58 billion from service providers, Clickmandu said, and the authority's cash and bank balance rose to Rs 21.56 billion from Rs 16.49 billion.

Clickmandu blames late approval of programmes and programmes put on hold. The authority has not been quoted. The report itself went to the communications minister in October, Ratopati reported then.

Why it matters: Halfway through the year the authority had used 11 percent of its own budget, Meatechwatch reported in February.

Power purchase report goes to the electricity authority's board after Tihar, Clickmandu reports

A subcommittee on criteria for power purchase agreements has finished its report, and it goes to the Nepal Electricity Authority's board on the Friday after Tihar, Clickmandu reported. Government, reservoir and peaking run-of-river projects come first, with two solar plants. They include Dudhkoshi (670 MW) and Betan Karnali (439 MW). Private projects follow in a second phase. No agreement has been signed.

Separately, the authority has applied to import about 900 MW over Bihar transmission lines, part of a winter plan for about 1,000 to 1,100 MW from India after December, NEA official Rajan Dhakal told Clickmandu. Domestic output is expected to drop to about 1,200 MW this winter. The peak is put at 2,200 to 2,300 MW, and about 430 MW of flood-hit hydropower is at risk.

Why it matters: The import plan was first reported in September, at 1,154 MW, by Kantipur. About 15,751 MW of hydropower awaited purchase agreements in early Jestha, Kantipur reported in July.

Gas sellers without VAT registration to lose supply from Magh 1, Clickmandu reports

Sellers not registered for VAT will get no cooking gas from Magh 1 (mid-January) under a Nepal Oil Corporation directive and an industry association decision, Clickmandu reported. They have until the end of Poush to register. No circular was found.