Average base rate and average spread rate of commercial banks have declined moderately in the first seven-month of the current fiscal, a Nepal Rastra Bank report suggests.
The latest macro-economic report of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows average spread rate (difference between interest rates on deposit and credit) of the banks stood at 6.76 percent in the seventh month of current fiscal against 6.97 percent of the first month.
The central bank has asked the banks to bring down the spread rate to five percent by the end of the current fiscal year. Though Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) has expressed their inability to reduce the spread rate to five percent, the central bank has ignored the banks’ demand to modify the formula for fixing the spread rate by including their operating costs in the calculation in the mid-term review of monetary policy.
According to the NRB report, the average base rate of the banks has declined to 8.58 percent in mid-February 2014 from 9.63 percent of mid-August 2013. The base rate is the combined cost of banks that they should consider before lending.
There has been a moderate decline in inflation, with the rate of inflation being reported at 8.8 percent in mid-February from 9.7 percent of mid-January. However, food inflation remained high at 10.8 percent while prices of non-food products stood at 6.9 percent.
In the review period, the price of tobacco registered the steepest rise of 25.3 percent, followed by alcoholic beverages, meat, fruits, cereals and spices. Among the non-food items, prices of clothing items remained the highest, surging by 12.2 percent followed by furnishing and household equipment, health and education.
The country’s trade deficit has expanded by 25.3 percent in the first seven-month of the current fiscal. The latest NRB macro-economic report shows Nepal’s exports rose by 17.6 percent to Rs 52.89 billion during the review period, while imports surged by 24.2 percent to Rs 392.69 billion.
On the import list, petroleum products expectedly topped the chart with Rs 73.33 billion, followed by vehicles (around Rs 25 billion). The rice import recorded a double digit growth (24.9 percent) during the review period. Nepal imported rice worth Rs 6.32 billion in the first seven month.
During the review period, the country’s balance of payment (BoP) surplus reached Rs 95.78 billion during the seven months of the current fiscal. The BoP surplus was Rs 1.59 billion during the same period last fiscal. BoP is the balance of monetary resources that came in against the amount that went out of the country.
The NRB report says current account also posted a surplus of Rs 67.24 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 1.70 billion in the same period last year. “The increase in surplus in the current account was primarily due to a substantial rise in net services, net income and grants as well as a high growth of workers’ remittances in the review period,” it says.
According to the NRB, remittance surged by 38.6 percent to Rs 311.91 billion compared to an increase of 19.6 percent in the same period last year.
The country’s gross foreign exchange reserves increased by 22 percent to Rs 650.54 billion in mid-February 2014 from Rs 533.30 billion of mid-July 2013. Such reserves had decreased by 0.4 percent during the same period last fiscal. Of the total reserves, NRB’s reserves increased by 21.4 percent to Rs 549.72 billion.
According to the central bank, the gross foreign exchange reserves in convertible foreign currency increased by 17.8 percent to $ 5.13 billion as of mid-February. Such reserves had increased by 4.2 percent in the same period last year. The Nepali currency depreciated by 4.3 percent against the dollar in the first seven-month.
source:the kathmandu post,14 march 2014
LINK
The latest macro-economic report of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows average spread rate (difference between interest rates on deposit and credit) of the banks stood at 6.76 percent in the seventh month of current fiscal against 6.97 percent of the first month.
The central bank has asked the banks to bring down the spread rate to five percent by the end of the current fiscal year. Though Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) has expressed their inability to reduce the spread rate to five percent, the central bank has ignored the banks’ demand to modify the formula for fixing the spread rate by including their operating costs in the calculation in the mid-term review of monetary policy.
According to the NRB report, the average base rate of the banks has declined to 8.58 percent in mid-February 2014 from 9.63 percent of mid-August 2013. The base rate is the combined cost of banks that they should consider before lending.
There has been a moderate decline in inflation, with the rate of inflation being reported at 8.8 percent in mid-February from 9.7 percent of mid-January. However, food inflation remained high at 10.8 percent while prices of non-food products stood at 6.9 percent.
In the review period, the price of tobacco registered the steepest rise of 25.3 percent, followed by alcoholic beverages, meat, fruits, cereals and spices. Among the non-food items, prices of clothing items remained the highest, surging by 12.2 percent followed by furnishing and household equipment, health and education.
The country’s trade deficit has expanded by 25.3 percent in the first seven-month of the current fiscal. The latest NRB macro-economic report shows Nepal’s exports rose by 17.6 percent to Rs 52.89 billion during the review period, while imports surged by 24.2 percent to Rs 392.69 billion.
On the import list, petroleum products expectedly topped the chart with Rs 73.33 billion, followed by vehicles (around Rs 25 billion). The rice import recorded a double digit growth (24.9 percent) during the review period. Nepal imported rice worth Rs 6.32 billion in the first seven month.
During the review period, the country’s balance of payment (BoP) surplus reached Rs 95.78 billion during the seven months of the current fiscal. The BoP surplus was Rs 1.59 billion during the same period last fiscal. BoP is the balance of monetary resources that came in against the amount that went out of the country.
The NRB report says current account also posted a surplus of Rs 67.24 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 1.70 billion in the same period last year. “The increase in surplus in the current account was primarily due to a substantial rise in net services, net income and grants as well as a high growth of workers’ remittances in the review period,” it says.
According to the NRB, remittance surged by 38.6 percent to Rs 311.91 billion compared to an increase of 19.6 percent in the same period last year.
The country’s gross foreign exchange reserves increased by 22 percent to Rs 650.54 billion in mid-February 2014 from Rs 533.30 billion of mid-July 2013. Such reserves had decreased by 0.4 percent during the same period last fiscal. Of the total reserves, NRB’s reserves increased by 21.4 percent to Rs 549.72 billion.
According to the central bank, the gross foreign exchange reserves in convertible foreign currency increased by 17.8 percent to $ 5.13 billion as of mid-February. Such reserves had increased by 4.2 percent in the same period last year. The Nepali currency depreciated by 4.3 percent against the dollar in the first seven-month.
source:the kathmandu post,14 march 2014
LINK
Comments
Post a Comment