4
Black list threat effective: FATF Page III A threat to add countries who are slow to combat terrorism financing to a public black list has proved effective in pushing them into action, a top executive at an international task force said ahead of G20 talks on the topic opening on Friday. INSIDE Bank lending surges as embargo ends Lending by commercial banks has surged after the trade embargo by India was lift- ed, swelling by Rs40 billion in the last one and a half months. India withdrew the embargo in the first week of February. According to the Nepal Bankers’ Association, total loans extended by com- mercial banks amounted to Rs50 billion during the period from the beginning until January 1. Lending by commercial banks reached Rs1.19 trillion. Himalayan Bank Chief Executive Officer Ashoke Rana said that lending had risen surpris- ingly this year despite the unfavourable business environment in the country. Pg: II THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016 (13-11-2072) kathmandupost.ekantipur.com money money finance&economy finance&economy kathmandu post the CROSS CURRENCY US Dollar 110.00 Euro 120.83 Pound Sterling 153.32 Japanese Yen 9.83 Chinese Yuan 16.83 Qatari Riyal 30.20 Australian Dollar 78.85 Malaysian Ringit 26.08 Saudi Arab Riyal 29.33 HOW TO READ THE TABLE The chart shows the rates of nine world currencies. Move across the table to find rates of exchange between any two currencies. One unit of the currency mentioned vertically is worth that amount in the currency mentioned horizontally. USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD INR NR NR 110.0000 120.8300 9.8300 153.3200 110.7400 79.6400 78.8500 1.6015 INR 68.555 75.279 0.6131 95.243 69.039 49.6271 49.122 0.6244 GBP 0.7194 0.7899 0.0064 0.7214 0.5203 0.5149 0.0105 0.0065 JPY 111.79 122.74 156.2500 112.61 80.91 81.1300 1.6311 0.1017 EUR 0.9108 0.0081 1.2660 0.9177 0.6585 0.6524 0.0133 0.0083 USD 1.0979 0.0089 1.3900 1.0083 0.7237 0.7168 0.0146 0.0091 FOREX Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank skywalk n Tourists walk on a glass skywalk in the National Mine Park of Tongren City, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, on Wednesday. The 1,005-metre-long and 1.6-metre-wide glass skywalk, with more than 100 metres above the valley bottom, has passed a safety test and will be opened to the public in May. XINHUA C M Y K REUTERS SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI, FEB 24 Asia’s oil markets are being upended as India’s and China’s refiners overtake once-dominant buyers like Japan and challenge the United States as the world’s biggest consumer. The shifts are not only estab- lishing new trade routes but are also challenging the way oil is priced in the region as the new players push for more cash car- goes and fewer long-term deals. China and India’s combined share of world oil consumption has tripled since 1990 to over 16 percent, nearing the US share of roughly 20 percent, cementing their status as the main center of global demand growth. “Asian oil markets are in a tremendous period of flux,” said Owain Johnson, managing director of Dubai Mercantile Exchange. By 2040, China and India could double their share again to a third, analysts say. One of Asia’s rising traders is Indian Oil Corp, which operates 11 refineries with a combined capacity of 80.7 million tonnes a year, a third of India’s capacity and roughly the same size as Exxon’s US refining base. “Spot crude (trading) gives more flexi- bility and more variety is availa- ble. Last year we raised spot pur- chases and for this year we are working out a strategy,” said its head of finance AK Sharma. The changes come at the expense of western majors, with Shell complaining in December that aggressive trading, conduct- ed by Chinese companies, meant Asian crude prices didn’t proper- ly reflect the market. “Chinese oil companies have become the new power houses in oil trading,” said Oystein Berentsen, managing director of crude at Strong Petroleum in Singapore. Previously, Asia’s largest oil buyers from Japan—which once accounted for about 10 percent of global demand—stuck with long- term contracts. Now, as China and India take the lead, a grow- ing share of trading is done on a spot basis as buyers prioritize cost and delivery flexibility over fixed shipment schedules. Moreover, thanks to the hefty volumes, the new buyers are able to extract favourable prices. China and India’s combined daily net crude imports exceed 10 mil- lion barrels, or some 3 million bpd more than top importer the US. The new buyers are also bringing new characteristics to the marketplace. “Indians are more flexible than many of their Asian peers, buying up distressed or stranded cargoes when there’s a profitable opportunity,” said Ivan Szpakowski, head of Asia commodity research at Citigroup. “India will become the biggest source of oil consumption growth. Its geography also chang- es trade flows. If you look at a map, the Middle East is much closer to India than to Japan or China and such shipments are effectively short-haul.” In China, state-owned oil giants have been joined by nearly 20 independent refiners which have been granted import licens- es and exclusively buy spot sup- plies. Their arrival is changing trade flows through their prefer- ence for cheaply-delivered Russian crudes which has helped Russia challenge the Middle East as China’s biggest supplier. Not all is smooth sailing. Richard Gorry, director of JBC Energy Asia, said the rise of these traders is causing “teething problems” as they make their first deals with highly regulated international companies. In January, a crude cargo sold to an independent Chinese refin- er by western merchants Vitol and Mercuria had to be resold af- ter the firm failed to secure finan- cing, while this month another private Chinese company walked away from a deal to buy $680 mil- lion of Russian oil, citing “chang- es in the market” as a reason. China’s national oil firms are also challenging Asia’s leading price benchmark, the Dubai Market-on-Close (MoC) by Platts, used to price more than 12 mil- lion bpd of crude to Asia, by fre- quently sweeping up almost all available cargoes, preventing other traders from participating in the pricing process. To avoid further squeezes, Platts made more crude available in its MoC, and Dave Ernsberger, head of global oil content at Platts, a subsidiary of McGraw Hill Financial, said it “absolutely makes sense” for China to take “a much more pre-eminent role in price discovery.” Still, challengers are circling. “The old system is no more and the creation of new systems and patterns of behaviours has begun,” said Jorge Montepeque, who set up the MoC system for Platts in the 1990s and is now an independent consultant. Keen to play a bigger part in price creation, China plans to launch Shanghai crude futures. Other exchanges are also looking to capitalize on the change. “China is obviously keen to have an ever greater say in pricing. At the same time, Iran is returning to the market. Firms across Asia are looking at new ways of doing business and legacy arrange- ments are all under review,” DME’s Johnson said. Asia’s oil markets in upheaval as China, India change the game CHALLENGING THE WAY OIL IS PRICED The shifts are not only establishing new trade routes but are also challenging the way oil is priced in the region as the new players push for more cash cargoes and fewer long-term deals Motorists still have a hard time filling their tanks POST REPORT KATHMANDU, FEB 24 The government has declared that gasoline will be available in any quantity, but frustrated motorists in the Kathmandu Valley are asking, “Where?” Despite the official announcement that the quota system has been scrapped and fuel supplies have increased, motorists still have a hard time filling their tanks. People can be seen waiting for hours in long queues in front of gas- oline stations. Rupesh Adhikari of Lazimpat, waiting in line at Goma Ganesh Petrol Pump, Gairidhara on Wednesday, said that this was the third time he had joined a queue to buy gasoline. He had to return empty-handed on the previous two days. “After standing in the queue for hours, we had to return empty-handed after the pump said that it had run out of stock,” he said. The Supply Ministry announced that the quota sys- tem had been scrapped since Monday following the end of the trade embargo by India when supplies ran short and fuel had to be rationed. Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said that it had increased petrol distribution to 450 kilolitres daily com- pared to the usual demand of 350 kilolitres. Similarly, the state-owned oil monopoly said that it had been issuing 500 kilolitres of diesel daily com- pared to the usual demand of 450 kilolitres. Lilendra Prasad Pradhan, president of the Petroleum Dealers’ Association, said the situation would return to nor- mal by next week. “Due to the increased supply, the rush has eased and demand has gone down by 50 percent compared to last week,” said Pradhan, adding that motorist queues had been shortened by half. Pradhan said that NOC should increase the petrol supply to 600 kilolitres daily and provide fuel on public hol- idays too. “If the corporation does that, things will return to normal soon.” According to the associa- tion, NOC provides 25 percent of the total supply to pumps owned by Sajha and the secu- rity forces. The rest is distrib- uted among private petrol pumps. There are 125 gasoline stations in the valley, 113 of which are privately owned. Rabin Koirala, a microbus driver, said the supply had increased compared to last week. “Previously, we had to wait in line for a day to receive fuel. Now, there are only a few vehicles in the queue,” he said. Pradhan said they were fac- ing problems in diesel distri- bution as many companies were stocking up on fuel by buying hundreds of litres in drums and jerry cans. “The corporation will be providing only up to 200 litres of diesel through five petrol pumps alternately on a daily basis to provide them fuel in vessels,” Pradhan said. “This is expected to ease diesel dis- tribution too,” he added. SEZ plans changes to working procedure MADHAB DHUNGANA BHAIRAHAWA, FEB 24 With the Bhairahawa-based Special Economic Zone (SEZ) failing to attract industries even more than a year after its inauguration, the government plans to make “significant” changes to the SEZ’s working procedure. Industrialists have com- plained about high rental fee, high paid-up capital require- ment and rigid criteria for set- ting up factories. “Just a few firms responded to two tender calls, prompting the SEZ to form a committee to identify any shortcomings,” said engi- neer Laxman Bhattarai. “The panel has recommended amendments to the action plan. The revised plan will come by mid March.” He added that a new Act, including the amended action plan, will also be rolled out soon. Once the action plan is finalised, the SEZ will again ask industrialists to apply to set up their plants there. According to a SEZ official, they plan to maintain “very minimum” rental charges and lower the paid-up capital requirement to lure industri- alists. The SEZ will also adopt more flexibility when it comes to the types of industries allowed to operate. Earlier, only 17 types of industries were allowed to operate in the SEZ. Siddharthanagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ram Kumar Sharma said if the new working proce- dure comes out with lower rental charges, more industri- alists would be attracted. “Currently, industrialists are not interested in the SEZ as the rent has been maintained very high,” said Sharma. Currently, the rent has been maintained at Rs150 per square metre, and sources said the rate would be lowered to Rs25-35 in the amended action plan. The SEZ was established by the government to entice industries that could generate a large number of employ- ment opportunities, attract foreign direct investment and increase exports. According to Bhattarai, once the amended working procedure comes out, the SEZ will kick start even if only five firms show readiness to operate. Govt team seals Siddhartha Gas HARIHAR SINGH RATHAUR IN DHADING & RAJESH KHANAL IN KATHMANDU FEB 24 A government team led by Supply Minister Ganesh Man Pun on Wednesday sealed Siddhartha Gas’ bottling plant based in Chalise, Dhading, on charge of misconduct. The team also seized LPG cylin- ders of Chalise-based Sugam Gas for its involvement in tampering with the gas containers. The Pun-headed team included officials from the Supply Department, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology and consumer’s rights activists. Pun said the move was aimed at controlling rampant black-marketeering and artificial shortages. “The government has intensified market monitoring to book wrongdoers,” he said. Laxman Shrestha, director at the Department of Supply Management and Consumer Welfare Protection, said the team cross-checked NOC’s Thankot- based depot and three gas plans based in Dhading—Siddhartha, Sugam and HP. “Almost all the gas companies were found not follow- ing safety measures,” he said. Shrestha said the NOC depot was found not maintaining ade- quate petroleum stock despite hav- ing the infrastructure. He said the team has directed the depot to upgrade its storage capacity and make fuel supply efficient. During the cross-check of Siddhartha Gas’ plant, the team found that 806 of its cylinders, which were ready to be sent to the market, had not undergone hydrau- lic testing and most of the cylin- ders were quite old and posed risk to the consumers. Besides tampering with the cyl- inders, Sugam Gas had also not installed the hydraulic system in its plant. As a result, its cylinders were heavier by up to 450 grams compared to standard cylinders, one of the team members said. Sugam Gas’ proprietor Shiva Ghimire, however, denied charges. “Just one of our cylinder sold under ‘Kamakhya’ brand has dif- ferent foot ring,” he said. HP Gas too was found not having the hydraulic system in its plant. “We have summoned the owner at the department by the next week,” said Shrestha. n Supply Minister Ganesh Man Pun (right) inspects an LPG bottling plant in Dhading on Wednesday. POST PHOTO lukewarm response from industrialists n A file photo shows vehicles queuing at a refuelling station in Kathmandu. POST PHOTO

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Page 1: SEZ plans changes to Siddhartha Gas working procedureepaper-archive-01.ekantipur.com/epaper/the... · Black list threat effective: FATF Page III A threat to add countries who are

Black list threat effective: FATF Page III A threat to add countries who are slow to combat terrorism financing to a public black list has proved effective in pushing them into action, a top executive at an international task force said ahead of G20 talks on the topic opening on Friday.

INS IDEBank lending surges as embargo endsLending by commercial banks has surged after the trade embargo by India was lift-ed, swelling by Rs40 billion in the last one and a half months. India withdrew the embargo in the first week of February. According to the Nepal Bankers’ Association, total loans extended by com-mercial banks amounted to Rs50 billion during the period from the beginning until January 1. Lending by commercial banks reached Rs1.19 trillion. Himalayan Bank Chief Executive Officer Ashoke Rana said that lending had risen surpris-ingly this year despite the unfavourable business environment in the country. Pg: II

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016 (13-11-2072) kathmandupost.ekantipur.com

moneymoneyfinance&economyfinance&economy

kathmanduposttheCROSS CURRENCY

US Dollar 110.00

Euro 120.83

Pound Sterling 153.32

Japanese Yen 9.83

Chinese Yuan 16.83

Qatari Riyal 30.20

Australian Dollar 78.85

Malaysian Ringit 26.08

Saudi Arab Riyal 29.33HOW TO READ THE TABLEThe chart shows the rates of nine world currencies. Move across the table to find rates of exchange between any two currencies. One unit of the currency mentioned vertically is worth that amount in the currency mentioned horizontally.

USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD INR NR

NR 110.0000 120.8300 9.8300 153.3200 110.7400 79.6400 78.8500 1.6015

INR 68.555 75.279 0.6131 95.243 69.039 49.6271 49.122 0.6244

GBP 0.7194 0.7899 0.0064 0.7214 0.5203 0.5149 0.0105 0.0065

JPY 111.79 122.74 156.2500 112.61 80.91 81.1300 1.6311 0.1017

EUR 0.9108 0.0081 1.2660 0.9177 0.6585 0.6524 0.0133 0.0083

USD 1.0979 0.0089 1.3900 1.0083 0.7237 0.7168 0.0146 0.0091

F O R E X

Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank

skywalk

n Tourists walk on a glass skywalk in the National Mine Park of Tongren City, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, on Wednesday. The 1,005-metre-long and 1.6-metre-wide glass skywalk, with more than 100 metres above the valley bottom, has passed a safety test and will be opened to the public in May. XINHUA

C M Y K

REUTERSSINGAPORE/NEW DELHI, FEB 24

Asia’s oil markets are being upended as India’s and China’s refiners overtake once-dominant buyers like Japan and challenge the United States as the world’s biggest consumer.

The shifts are not only estab-lishing new trade routes but are also challenging the way oil is priced in the region as the new players push for more cash car-goes and fewer long-term deals.

China and India’s combined share of world oil consumption has tripled since 1990 to over 16 percent, nearing the US share of roughly 20 percent, cementing their status as the main center of global demand growth. “Asian oil markets are in a tremendous period of flux,” said Owain

Johnson, managing director of Dubai Mercantile Exchange.

By 2040, China and India could double their share again to a third, analysts say.

One of Asia’s rising traders is Indian Oil Corp, which operates 11 refineries with a combined capacity of 80.7 million tonnes a year, a third of India’s capacity and roughly the same size as Exxon’s US refining base. “Spot crude (trading) gives more flexi-bility and more variety is availa-ble. Last year we raised spot pur-chases and for this year we are working out a strategy,” said its head of finance AK Sharma.

The changes come at the expense of western majors, with Shell complaining in December that aggressive trading, conduct-ed by Chinese companies, meant Asian crude prices didn’t proper-

ly reflect the market. “Chinese oil companies have become the new power houses in oil trading,” said Oystein Berentsen, managing director of crude at Strong Petroleum in Singapore.

Previously, Asia’s largest oil buyers from Japan—which once accounted for about 10 percent of global demand—stuck with long-term contracts. Now, as China and India take the lead, a grow-ing share of trading is done on a spot basis as buyers prioritize cost and delivery flexibility over fixed shipment schedules.

Moreover, thanks to the hefty volumes, the new buyers are able

to extract favourable prices. China and India’s combined daily net crude imports exceed 10 mil-lion barrels, or some 3 million bpd more than top importer the US. The new buyers are also bringing new characteristics to the marketplace. “Indians are more flexible than many of their Asian peers, buying up distressed or stranded cargoes when there’s a profitable opportunity,” said Ivan Szpakowski, head of Asia commodity research at Citigroup.

“India will become the biggest source of oil consumption growth. Its geography also chang-es trade flows. If you look at a

map, the Middle East is much closer to India than to Japan or China and such shipments are effectively short-haul.”

In China, state-owned oil giants have been joined by nearly 20 independent refiners which have been granted import licens-es and exclusively buy spot sup-plies. Their arrival is changing trade flows through their prefer-ence for cheaply-delivered Russian crudes which has helped Russia challenge the Middle East as China’s biggest supplier.

Not all is smooth sailing. Richard Gorry, director of JBC Energy Asia, said the rise of these traders is causing “teething problems” as they make their first deals with highly regulated international companies.

In January, a crude cargo sold to an independent Chinese refin-

er by western merchants Vitol and Mercuria had to be resold af- ter the firm failed to secure finan-cing, while this month another private Chinese company walked away from a deal to buy $680 mil-lion of Russian oil, citing “chang-es in the market” as a reason.

China’s national oil firms are also challenging Asia’s leading price benchmark, the Dubai Market-on-Close (MoC) by Platts, used to price more than 12 mil-lion bpd of crude to Asia, by fre-quently sweeping up almost all available cargoes, preventing other traders from participating in the pricing process.

To avoid further squeezes, Platts made more crude available in its MoC, and Dave Ernsberger, head of global oil content at Platts, a subsidiary of McGraw Hill Financial, said it “absolutely

makes sense” for China to take “a much more pre-eminent role in price discovery.”

Still, challengers are circling. “The old system is no more and the creation of new systems and patterns of behaviours has begun,” said Jorge Montepeque, who set up the MoC system for Platts in the 1990s and is now an independent consultant.

Keen to play a bigger part in price creation, China plans to launch Shanghai crude futures. Other exchanges are also looking to capitalize on the change. “China is obviously keen to have an ever greater say in pricing. At the same time, Iran is returning to the market. Firms across Asia are looking at new ways of doing business and legacy arrange-ments are all under review,” DME’s Johnson said.

Asia’s oil markets in upheaval as China, India change the gameC H A L L E N G I N G T H E WAY O I L I S P R I C E D

The shifts are not only establishing new trade routes but are also challenging the way oil is priced in the region as the new players

push for more cash cargoes and fewer long-term deals

Motorists still have a hard time filling their tanksPOST REPORTKATHMANDU, FEB 24

The government has declared that gasoline will be available in any quantity, but frustrated motorists in the Kathmandu Valley are asking, “Where?”

Despite the official announcement that the quota system has been scrapped and fuel supplies have increased, motorists still have a hard time filling their tanks. People can be seen waiting for hours in long queues in front of gas-oline stations.

Rupesh Adhikari of Lazimpat, waiting in line at Goma Ganesh Petrol Pump, Gairidhara on Wednesday, said that this was the third time he had joined a queue to buy gasoline. He had to return empty-handed on the previous two days.

“After standing in the queue for hours, we had to return empty-handed after the pump said that it had run out of stock,” he said.

The Supply Ministry announced that the quota sys-

tem had been scrapped since Monday following the end of the trade embargo by India when supplies ran short and fuel had to be rationed.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said that it had increased petrol distribution to 450 kilolitres daily com-pared to the usual demand of 350 kilolitres. Similarly, the state-owned oil monopoly said that it had been issuing 500 kilolitres of diesel daily com-pared to the usual demand of 450 kilolitres.

Lilendra Prasad Pradhan, president of the Petroleum Dealers’ Association, said the situation would return to nor-mal by next week. “Due to the increased supply, the rush has eased and demand has gone down by 50 percent compared to last week,” said Pradhan, adding that motorist queues had been shortened by half.

Pradhan said that NOC should increase the petrol supply to 600 kilolitres daily and provide fuel on public hol-idays too. “If the corporation

does that, things will return to normal soon.”

According to the associa-tion, NOC provides 25 percent of the total supply to pumps owned by Sajha and the secu-rity forces. The rest is distrib-uted among private petrol pumps. There are 125 gasoline stations in the valley, 113 of which are privately owned.

Rabin Koirala, a microbus driver, said the supply had increased compared to last week. “Previously, we had to wait in line for a day to receive fuel. Now, there are only a few vehicles in the queue,” he said.

Pradhan said they were fac-ing problems in diesel distri-bution as many companies were stocking up on fuel by buying hundreds of litres in drums and jerry cans.

“The corporation will be providing only up to 200 litres of diesel through five petrol pumps alternately on a daily basis to provide them fuel in vessels,” Pradhan said. “This is expected to ease diesel dis-tribution too,” he added.

SEZ plans changes to working procedureMADHAB DHUNGANABHAIRAHAWA, FEB 24

With the Bhairahawa-based Special Economic Zone (SEZ) failing to attract industries even more than a year after its inauguration, the government plans to make “significant” changes to the SEZ’s working procedure.

Industrialists have com-plained about high rental fee, high paid-up capital require-ment and rigid criteria for set-ting up factories. “Just a few firms responded to two tender calls, prompting the SEZ to form a committee to identify any shortcomings,” said engi-neer Laxman Bhattarai. “The panel has recommended amendments to the action plan. The revised plan will come by mid March.”

He added that a new Act, including the amended action plan, will also be rolled out soon.

Once the action plan is finalised, the SEZ will again ask industrialists to apply to set up their plants there. According to a SEZ official, they plan to maintain “very minimum” rental charges and lower the paid-up capital requirement to lure industri-alists.

The SEZ will also adopt more flexibility when it comes to the types of industries allowed to operate. Earlier,

only 17 types of industries were allowed to operate in the SEZ.

Siddharthanagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ram Kumar Sharma said if the new working proce-dure comes out with lower rental charges, more industri-alists would be attracted. “Currently, industrialists are not interested in the SEZ as the rent has been maintained very high,” said Sharma.

Currently, the rent has been maintained at Rs150 per

square metre, and sources said the rate would be lowered to Rs25-35 in the amended action plan.

The SEZ was established by the government to entice industries that could generate a large number of employ-ment opportunities, attract foreign direct investment and increase exports. According to Bhattarai, once the amended working procedure comes out, the SEZ will kick start even if only five firms show readiness to operate.

Govt team seals Siddhartha GasHARIHAR SINGH RATHAUR IN DHADING & RAJESH KHANAL IN KATHMANDUFEB 24

A government team led by Supply Minister Ganesh Man Pun on Wednesday sealed Siddhartha Gas’ bottling plant based in Chalise, Dhading, on charge of misconduct.

The team also seized LPG cylin-ders of Chalise-based Sugam Gas for its involvement in tampering with the gas containers.

The Pun-headed team included officials from the Supply Department, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology and consumer’s rights activists. Pun said the move was aimed at controlling rampant black-marketeering and artificial shortages. “The government has intensified market monitoring to book wrongdoers,” he said.

Laxman Shrestha, director at the Department of Supply Management and Consumer Welfare Protection, said the team cross-checked NOC’s Thankot-based depot and three gas plans based in Dhading—Siddhartha, Sugam and HP. “Almost all the gas companies were found not follow-ing safety measures,” he said.

Shrestha said the NOC depot was found not maintaining ade-quate petroleum stock despite hav-ing the infrastructure. He said the team has directed the depot to upgrade its storage capacity and make fuel supply efficient.

During the cross-check of Siddhartha Gas’ plant, the team found that 806 of its cylinders,

which were ready to be sent to the market, had not undergone hydrau-lic testing and most of the cylin-ders were quite old and posed risk to the consumers.

Besides tampering with the cyl-inders, Sugam Gas had also not installed the hydraulic system in its plant. As a result, its cylinders were heavier by up to 450 grams compared to standard cylinders,

one of the team members said.Sugam Gas’ proprietor Shiva

Ghimire, however, denied charges. “Just one of our cylinder sold under ‘Kamakhya’ brand has dif-ferent foot ring,” he said.

HP Gas too was found not having the hydraulic system in its plant. “We have summoned the owner at the department by the next week,” said Shrestha.

n Supply Minister Ganesh Man Pun (right) inspects an LPG bottling plant in Dhading on Wednesday. POST PHOTO

lukewarm response from industrialists

n A file photo shows vehicles queuing at a refuelling station in Kathmandu. POST PHOTO

Page 2: SEZ plans changes to Siddhartha Gas working procedureepaper-archive-01.ekantipur.com/epaper/the... · Black list threat effective: FATF Page III A threat to add countries who are

moneyeconomy IIThursday, February 25, 2016 | the kathmandu post

Westfield posts $2.3 billion profitSYDNEY: Shopping centre giant Westfield on Wednesday recorded a $2.3 billion net profit sup-ported by healthy income growth for its US and British assets, as it flagged an August open-ing for its fully leased World Trade Center development. The Australian-listed compa-ny is reporting its first full-year result for the 12 months to December 31, 2015 since spinning off its Australian and New Zealand business into a separate entity the year before. Westfield said it had made “significant progress” on a multi-bil-lion dollar redevelop-ment programme, and recorded comparable net operating income growth of 4.2 percent for its flag-ship stores, which make up 82 percent of its assets. It posted net oper-ating income growth of 2.7 percent for the regional assets. “Our $10.5 billion development programme... is expected to create significant long-term value and earnings accretion,” Westfield’s co-CEOs Peter Lowy and Steven Lowy said. (AFP)

Pound hits fresh seven-year lowTOKYO: The pound on Wednesday fell below $1.40 to a fresh sev-en-year low on growing worries that Britain may vote to leave the European Union, as Prime Minister David Cameron ramps up his bid to stay in the 28-nation bloc. Sterling briefly dropped as low as $1.3975 in morning Tokyo trade, its lowest since March 2009. Britain’s currency has been under pressure since Cameron’s deal with the EU to avoid a “Brexit” last week was handed a setback as popular London Mayor Boris Johnson declared his support for the exit cam-paign in the June 23 ref-erendum. Six members of Cameron’s cabinet announced they would support leaving, a move that underscored rifts in the ruling Tory Party. Cameron has pushed back, warning that a vote to leave the EU would risk the country’s economic and national security. (AFP)

Viacom seeks minority partnerNEW YORK: Media-entertainment giant Viacom said Tuesday it was seeking a minority investor for its Paramount studios in Hollywood to adapt to a shifting industry land-scape. Viacom’s chair-man and chief executive Philippe Dauman said the company had “received indications of interest from potential partners” and that it would explore these options. Viacom and Paramount have been under pressure to adapt to changes in the indus-try as power shifts to streaming media giants like Netflix and Amazon. Dauman took on the title of chairman earlier this month, replacing 92-year-old Sumner Redstone amid concerns the com-pany was failing to keep pace with its rivals. (AFP)

NEWS DIGEST

Nepal Stock ExchangeSinghadurbar Plaza, Kathmandu

February 24, 2016

1 Ace Development Bank Ltd 371 365 371 45812 Agriculture Development Bank Ltd 603 590 595 42493 Alpine Development Bank Ltd 499 490 490 204 Api Power Company Ltd 500 472 472 4725 Araniko Development Bank Ltd 250 246 250 4806 Arun Valley Hydropower Development Co. Ltd 300 297 300 12307 Barun Hydropower Co. Ltd 345 345 345 108 Bhargav Bikash Bank Ltd 331 330 330 7009 Biratlaxmi Bikas Bank Ltd 385 380 385 54710 Century Commercial Bank Ltd 361 350 358 1600011 Chhimek Laghubitta Bikas Bank Ltd 1850 1825 1835 115212 Chilime Hydropower Company Ltd 1384 1371 1371 234913 Citizen Bank International Ltd 640 627 630 891814 Citizen Investment Trust 4640 4280 4594 1359115 Cosmos Development Bank Ltd 388 384 385 118016 Country Development Bank Ltd 216 206 216 228317 Deprosc Development Bank Ltd 2190 2150 2190 271618 Dev Bikas Bank Ltd 214 209 209 1026119 Everest Bank Ltd 2420 2400 2415 272920 Everest Bank Ltd Con. Pref. 1479 1401 1430 39821 Everest Insurance Co. Ltd 1010 999 1000 786422 Excel Development Bank Ltd 693 693 693 5023 Fewa Bikas Bank Ltd 374 346 374 6024 First Micro Finance Development Bank Ltd 930 920 930 167425 Gandaki Bikas Bank Ltd 335 332 335 127726 Garima Bikas Bank Ltd 344 340 342 164927 Global IME Bank Ltd 465 453 462 358228 Goodwill Finance Co. Ltd 217 217 217 13329 Gurans Life Insurance Company Ltd 636 620 630 193230 Hama Merchant & Finance Ltd 172 172 172 13031 Himalayan Bank Ltd 1150 1110 1130 910632 Himalayan General Insurance Co. Ltd 766 760 766 296833 ICFC Finance Ltd 256 256 256 50034 ILFCO Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd 1001 995 999 37235 Innovative Development Bank Ltd 427 416 416 25036 Jebils Finance Ltd 179 177 179 81037 Kalika Microcredit Development Bank Ltd 1588 1545 1545 13138 Kanchan Development Bank Ltd 405 405 405 3039 Kankai Bikas Bank Ltd 328 328 328 20040 Kasthamandap Development Bank Ltd 234 228 233 93341 Laxmi Bank Ltd 645 630 633 699842 Laxmi Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd 2030 2020 2020 119143 Laxmi Value Fund-1 11.10 11 11 1000044 Life Insurance Co. Nepal 3500 3490 3495 126045 Maha Laxmi Finance Ltd 285 284 284 74846 Mahakali Bikas Bank Ltd 276 269 269 108647 Malika Bikas Bank Ltd 349 343 343 35048 Manjushree Financial Institution Ltd 262 262 262 11049 Mission Development Bank Ltd 214 202 214 123950 Miteri Development Bank Ltd 618 616 616 57251 Muktinath Bikas Bank Ltd 820 818 820 377752 Nabil Balance Fund 1 16 15.90 16 22345453 Nabil Bank Ltd 1960 1915 1915 419554 NABIL Bank Ltd Promotor Share 1500 1483 1491 189055 NagBeli LaghuBitta Bikas Bank Ltd 3450 3450 3450 3056 Namaste Bittiya Sanstha Ltd 412 382 412 185257 Narayani National Finance Ltd 350 342 342 578958 National Hydro Power Company Ltd 177 163 164 6964059 National Life Insurance Co. Ltd 2650 2621 2650 270260 Neco Insurance Co. Ltd 1015 1000 1000 252461 Nepal Bangladesh Bank Ltd 583 558 560 3870962 Nepal Bank Ltd 365 356 357 997763 Nepal Community Development Bank Ltd 370 350 370 119964 Nepal Doorsanchar Comapany Ltd 702 699 702 1531565 Nepal Grameen Bikas Bank Ltd 450 442 450 150166 Nepal Insurance Co. Ltd 675 675 675 4067 Nepal Investment Bank Ltd 980 956 960 2423968 Nepal Investment Bank Ltd Promoter Share 875 833 860 5512669 Nepal Life Insurance Co. Ltd 3160 3133 3160 108670 Nepal SBI Bank Ltd 1417 1390 1417 451671 Nerude Laghubita Bikas Bank Ltd 2330 2330 2330 21072 NIC Asia Bank Ltd 760 740 745 832373 Nirdhan Utthan Bank Ltd 1735 1676 1720 128374 NLG Insurance Company Ltd 919 908 919 101775 NMB Bank Ltd 549 536 539 4221576 NMB Sulav Investment Fund-1 12.80 12.80 12.80 200077 Oriental Hotels Ltd 415 415 415 100078 Premier Insurance Co. Ltd 1100 1070 1070 362379 Prime Commercial Bank Ltd 535 525 532 626980 Prime Life Insurance Company Ltd 1650 1626 1626 86581 Professional Diyalo Bikas Bank Ltd 217 211 217 202882 Prudential Insurance Co. Ltd 779 764 770 165083 Purnima Bikas Bank Ltd 404 397 397 21084 Raptibheri Bikas Bank Ltd 253 244 244 5385 Reliable Development Bank Ltd 385 378 378 1047386 Reliance Lotus Finance Ltd 232 230 230 50087 Ridi Hydropower Development Company Ltd 405 400 400 16388 Rural Microfinance Development Centre Ltd 811 800 805 268389 Sagarmatha Insurance Co. Ltd 1230 1158 1230 23090 Sana Kisan Bikas Bank Ltd 1575 1535 1548 188191 Sanima Bank Ltd 745 735 738 1706092 Sanima Mai Hydropower Ltd 850 840 844 436293 Sewa Bikas Bank Ltd 315 311 315 27294 Shikhar Insurance Co. Ltd 1729 1660 1680 633495 Siddharth Finance Ltd 226 216 216 230096 Siddhartha Equity Orineted Scheme 11.61 11.38 11.61 550097 Siddhartha Insurance Ltd 1140 1114 1122 404898 Siddhartha Investment Growth Scheme-1 18 17.70 17.70 22940099 Sindhu Bikash Bank Ltd 340 340 340 500100 Soaltee Hotel Ltd 323 322 322 4800101 Standard Chartered Bank Ltd 2830 2795 2805 8212102 Subhechha Bikas Bank Ltd 314 314 314 113103 Summit Micro Finance Development Bank Ltd 2355 2351 2351 300104 Sunrise Bank Ltd 468 452 462 4045105 Surya Life Insurance Company Ltd 795 795 795 40106 Swabalamban Bikas Bank Ltd 2093 2080 2080 1300107 Swarojgar Laghu Bitta Bikas Bank Ltd 2300 2300 2300 135108 Synergy Finance Ltd 110 108 108 348109 Taragaon Regency Hotel Ltd 212 212 212 20110 Tinau Development Bank Ltd 382 371 380 2312111 Tourism Development Bank Ltd 285 282 284 3645112 Triveni Bikas Bank Ltd 291 290 291 474113 Union Finance Co. Ltd 137 127 135 3559114 Unique Finance Ltd 188 187 188 1000115 United Finance Ltd 380 365 379 1895116 United Insurance Co. (Nepal) Ltd 635 616 616 1631117 Vijaya laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd 1255 1230 1254 386118 Western Development Bank Ltd 423 406 415 1259119 Yeti Development Bank Ltd 172 168 169 21529

TRADING INFORMATION TRADING PRICESN COMPANY MAX MIN CLOSING NO SHARES

Nepse 1,279.90pts 0.47%

RLFL RHPC NIBPO NHPC SWBBL PIC-2.54% -2.43% -2.38% -2.38% -2.30% -2.28%

SFL RBBBL INDB DBBL UIC API-6.08% -5.42% -4.36% -3.68% -3.59% -2.88%

HIGHEST GAINERS

EDBL SLICL SUBBL SEOS EBLCP NCDB1.91% 1.92% 1.94% 2.02% 2.07% 3.06%

SIC CIT MIDBL UFCL NBSL FBBL4.14% 6.71% 7.53% 8% 9.86% 10%

HIGHEST LOSERS

MODERATE LOSERS

MODERATE GAINERS

Base: 16/07/2006, (Adjusted on 10/04/2007) = 100

Sub-Indices Current Pts Change %ChangeBanking 1,180.54 10.91 0.92 Hotels 1,710.84 27.61 1.59 Dev Bank 1,263.97 0.63 0.05 HydroPower 2,239.24 23.51 1.04 Finance 620.88 11.67 1.92 Insurance 5,518.07 1.66 0.03

Total Amount Rs. 427,715,711Total Quantity 1,012,087Total No of Transactions 1,826

INDEX CURRENT PTS CHANGE %CHANGENEPSE 1,279.90 6.03 0.47 Sensitive 276.82 1.27 0.46 Float 92.05 0.55 0.59

SHARES

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEWASHINGTON, FEB 24

Apple is battling the US government over unlocking devices in at least 10 cases in addition to its high-profile dispute involving the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino attackers, court documents show.

The existence of other court fights supports Apple’s argument that the legal case in California is about more than a single iPhone. Apple provided a list of cases where it is opposing the US Justice Depart-ment’s requests in a February 17 let-ter to a federal judge in Brooklyn, where the company is challenging government efforts to access an iPhone in a drug trafficking case.

The letter said the requests sought Apple’s assistance under the All Writs Act, a 1789 law which allows the courts broad authority to help law enforcement. “Apple has not agreed to perform any services

on the devices to which those requests are directed,” Apple’s law-yer Marc Zwillinger said in the let-ter. The letter said the cases were

“similar in nature” but did not pro-vide specifics about the govern-ment’s requests. It said the San Bernardino case was “even more

burdensome” than the other reque-sts because it would require the co- mpany to create new software to he- lp investigators break into iPhone.

Apple has been locked in a legal and public relations battle with the government in the California case, where the FBI is seeking technical assistance in hacking the iPhone of Syed Farook, a US citizen, who with his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik in Dec gunned down 14 people.

In the Brooklyn case, prosecutors responded to the Apple letter with their own filing, claiming that the company’s position has been “incon-sistent at best”.

“Apple did not file objections to any of the orders, seek an opportu-nity to be heard from the court, or otherwise seek judicial relief,” the letter said. “In most of the cases, rather than challenge the orders in court, Apple simply deferred com-plying with them, without seeking appropriate judicial relief.”

The letter from US Attorney Robert Capers said that “numerous judges around the nation have found it appropriate, under the All Writs Act, to require Apple to assist in accessing a passcode-locked Apple device where law enforcement agents have obtained a warrant to search that device.”

Apple’s letter to the Brooklyn judge cited nine additional cases in New York, California, Illinois and Massachusetts where the govern-ment was seeking assistance in accessing iPhones or iPads.

The Wall Street Journal, which reported the existence of the cases earlier Tuesday, said those apart from the one in San Bernardino were not terrorism-related. Apple said Monday it supports the idea of a panel of experts to consider access to encrypted devices if US authori-ties drop their legal battle. “Apple would gladly participate in such an effort,” the company said.

Apple fight on iPhone access extends to other casesE N C RY PT I O N ROW

C M Y K

n Protestors demonstrate outside the FBI headquarters in support of Apple in Washington DC on Tuesday. AFP/RSS

Bank lending surges by Rs40b as embargo endsPOST REPORTKATHMANDU, FEB 24

Lending by commercial banks has surged after the trade embargo by India was lifted, swelling by Rs40 billion in the last one and a half months. India withdrew the embargo in the first week of February.

According to the Nepal

Bankers’ Association, total loans extended by commercial banks amounted to Rs50 billion during the period from the beginning until January 1. Lending by commercial banks reached Rs1.19 trillion.

H i m a l a y a n B a n k ’ s

Chief Executive Officer Ashoke Rana said that lend-ing had risen surprisingly this year despite the unfa-vourable business environ-ment in the country.

Bankers said that demand

for loans from borrowers had soared after the embargo started to ease.

“We sanctioned double the amount of loans during the period mid-December to mid-January compared to the previous month,” said

Bhuvan Dahal, CEO of Sanima Bank. “Lending is growing as a whole in the industry.”

According to him, demand for loans has been increasing from

most industrial sec-tors, ranging from small industries to big corporate sec-tors in the last two

months. Devendra Pratap

Shah, CEO of Nepal Bank, the oldest bank in the

country, said that there was optimism among borrowers. “I am not sure about the exact figure, but the demand for loans is rising,” he added.

After India lifted the embargo, trading activities have grown in market centres. As traders could sell their goods in the market and generate cash flow, they start-ed borrowing capital to expand their business, accord-ing to bankers.

Ratna Raj Bajracharya, CEO of Sunrise Bank, said both lending and profits of banks had risen as goods stuck at the border points during the embargo have entered the country and are being sold.

During the last one and a half months, deposits rose Rs50 billion.

Indian pharmas urged to step up standardsREUTERSMUMBAI, FEB 24

US and EU drug regulators called upon India’s pharma-ceutical sector on Tuesday to step up efforts to improve manufacturing standards and ensure the reliability of data if it is to maintain its domi-nance in the generic drugs industry.

India’s $15 billion pharma-ceutical industry, an increas-ingly important global suppli-er of cheaper generic medi-cines, has been dogged by concerns over quality issues after the US Food and Drug Administration banned a series of factories from pro-ducing medicines for the United States due to inade-quate standards.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA), and the UK’s Medicines and Health Regulatory Authority (MHRA) also barred some Indian plants from producing drugs for their markets. Officials from the US, EU and UK regu-lators said they plan to increase the number of inspections in India, and are pushing for better coopera-tion between Indian authori-ties and companies as well as improved training for staff.

Some Indian companies are still not taking enough steps to identify risks and failures at their firms, said Russell Wesdyk, director of the office of surveillance at the FDA.

There is also a need to create a culture where employ-ees can report bad news to their bosses, said Gerald Heddell, the UK MHRA’s director of inspection enforce-ment and standards.

“There is a great respect for authority in India, but it can become a weakness if people close their minds and only listen to that authority, inst-ead of doing the right thing.”

India supplies about 33 per-cent of the medicines sold in the United States, and nearly a quarter sold in the UK, accord-ing to a report released on Tuesday by the largest Indian pharma lobby group, the Indian Pharmaceutical

Alliance (IPA). Complaints from regulators have ranged from issues over hygiene and maintenance to concerns over falsifying manufacturing-re-lated tests results and data. Indian companies have said they have been working on improving their manufactur-ing standards by bringing in third-party auditors, training staff, and automating their systems.

The bosses of India’s larg-est drugmakers, including Sun Phar maceutical Industries Ltd, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, Lupin Ltd and Cadila Healthcare Ltd stood by those commitments on Tuesday.

Sun’s founder Dilip Shanghvi said he expected to automate systems at all of the company’s manufacturing plants in the next three to four years. Efforts by some Indian companies in the last couple of years to improve compli-ance have been “very impres-sive”, said Thomas Cosgrove, director at the FDA’s office of manufacturing quality.

Yet, many are lagging behind and need to do more, he said, especially in ensuring that data is not compromised. “Data integrity really sounds off alarm bells for us ... if you see data integrity on the sur-face, there is likely a lot going on underneath.”

The regulators said that it was critical that Indian com-panies ensure they follow quality standards, especially as they aspire to make origi-nal medicines and more com-plex products such as biosimi-lars. “Generics is only one part,” said Shanghvi, whose Sun is also the world’s fifth-biggest generic drugs maker. “We need to think about how we can transform into global players.”

WEEKLY FIGURESAs of Deposit Lending 01-01-2016 1,537b 1,152b08-01-2016 1,544b 1,156b15-01-2016 1,545b 1,175b22-01-2016 1,558b 1,177b29-01-2016 1,572b 1,179b05-02-2016 1,577b 1,184b12-02-2016 1,587b 1,192b

(Source: Nepal Bankers Association)

India’s $15b pharma industry has been dogged by concerns over quality issues after the US FDA

banned a series of factories

travel peak

n Passengers board a train at the railway station of Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan Province, on Wednesday. Railway stations around the country witnessed surging passenger flows as the Spring Festival holidays ended and people started to return to school and work. XINHUA

Page 3: SEZ plans changes to Siddhartha Gas working procedureepaper-archive-01.ekantipur.com/epaper/the... · Black list threat effective: FATF Page III A threat to add countries who are

money worldIII thekathmandupost | Thursday, February 25, 2016

Airbus profits soar to $3 billionLONDON: Airbus Group said on Wednesday its net profits climbed 15 percent last year and pre-dicted deliveries of more than 650 aircraft in 2016 and a rise in orders to record levels. The France-based European aerospace group chalked up a net profit of 2.7 bil-lion euros ($3.0 billion), with sales up 6.0 percent to 64 billion euros. Orders soared to 159 bil-lion euros, sending its order book to a record of more than a trillion euros. Earnings before interest and tax edged higher to 4.1 billion euros from 4.07 billion a year earlier, excluding one-time items, said the group, which announced its results in London. Based on the strong results, the group pro-posed a dividend to shareholders of 1.30 euros per share, up 8.0 percent from the previ-ous year. (AFP)

Fresenius sees further growthFRANKFURT: German healthcare specialist Fresenius forecast high-er sales and earnings this year after turning in a “remarkable” perfor-mance in 2015. “2015 was a remarkable year for Fresenius with dou-ble-digit sales and earn-ings growth,” said chief executive Ulf Mark Schneider. “Our growth story continues. We see significant opportunities around the globe for the company’s strong and balanced healthcare portfolio, and this confi-dence is reflected in our new 2019 group targets,” he said. Last year, Fresenius’ net profit jumped by 27 percent to 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 bil-lion). Underlying or oper-ating profit grew by 24 percent to 3.9 billion euros on a 19-percent increase in sales to 27.6 billion euros. Fresenius is the umbrella for three major companies, renal health care giant Fresenius Medical Care, the infusion and transfu-sion specialist Fresenius Kabi and the hospital and clinic operator Fresenius Helios. (AFP)

Restructured PSA back in blackPARIS: French automo-bile maker PSA Peugeot Citroën said Wednesday it moved back into the black in 2015 with a net profit of 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) after a suc-cessful restructuring and on higher demand, two years after it almost went to the wall. Europe’s second biggest carmaker revealed a 5.7 percent rise in sales to 56.3 billion euros as it said it would unveil its new “strategic sustaina-ble growth plan” on April 5. The results are a turnaround for a group which posted a 555 mil-lion euros loss in 2014. Last month PSA said its global sales advanced by 1.2 percent in 2015 com-pared with 2014 despite a small retreat in China and Southeast Asia. The news helped to bolster the firm’s stock, which climbed 4.1 percent in early trading in Paris to 14.23 euros. Buoyant European demand led the way. (AFP)

news digest

REUTERSBEIJING, FEB 24

China still owns the world’s larg-est currency reserves, but it has been burning through them at such a pace that some think Beijing might soon have to allow a sharp fall in the yuan or back-pedal on liberalisation and tighten its capital controls.

Foreign exchange reserves in China declined $99.5 billion in January to $3.23 trillion, follow-ing a record fall the previous month, and have shrunk by $762 billion since mid-2014, more than the gross domestic product of Switzerland.

That still leaves a mighty arse-nal, and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) says it is more than adequate, though it has not said what the minimum might be

and did not return a request for comment. PBOC governor Zhou Xiaochuan told Caixin magazine a week ago that much of the out-flow had been Chinese companies repaying dollar debt as the green-back rose, which would bottom out, or outbound investment, which was to be welcomed.

Most economists agree China has a way to go before running out of road, but some believe it will have to hit the brakes in months, not years.

The pace of decline has accel-erated as the PBOC fought to keep the yuan steady in the face of speculative selling offshore and capital flight at home, a task made harder by China’s slowest economic growth in 25 years and the bank’s own decision to guide the currency down in August and again in early January.

Though it has huge reserves, an economy the size of China’s needs them to cover imports and foreign debts, and the less liquid assets in reserves can’t readily serve those purposes. Though the

composition of China’s reserves is a state secret, officials also say the falling dollar value of other currencies it holds accounts for some of the fall. Economists and foreign exchange professionals

around the world are neverthe-less asking how low can they go before Beijing is forced to choose between fresh capital controls or giving up selling dol-lars to defend the yuan, also known as the renminbi.

French bank Societe Generale says International Monetary Fund guidelines put $2.8 trillion as the minimum prudent level for China, which is not far away if reserves keep falling at the cur-rent pace. “If that occurs in the next few months,” says SocGen, “expect to see a tidal wave of speculative selling, forcing the PBOC to throw in the towel and let the market decide the level of the renminbi exchange rate.”

A G20 deputy central banker was considerably more sanguine. “Whatever number I would come up with, it would be a lot less

than $2.8 trillion,” he said, adding that reserves could fall another trillion by year-end in conjunc-tion with stability in the exchange rate. Analysts at HSBC felt $2 trillion would be sufficient in theory, but doubted Beijing would risk letting ever-falling reserves spook local investors into shifting more funds offshore.

According to Win Thin, global head of emerging market curren-cy strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, New York, China has 17 months’ import cover, and its short-term foreign debt is only 25 percent of reserves, comfortably better than the three-month and 55 percent levels that might be considered safe for emerging markets (EM). “I would say by any metric that we use for EM, Chinese reserves are more than sufficient,” he said.

Within China, economists agree there is no imminent crisis facing policymakers. “We have $3.3 trillion. What should we worry about?” said one econo-mist at a Beijing-based think-tank. “We have net claims on for-eign assets of $1.5 trillion, and we still have a trade surplus of about $600 billion.” If it falls to $2 tril-lion by 2025, he said, “we will still be safe and sound”.

Another economist at a govern-ment think-tank put the bottom line at $1.62 trillion. “They are a bit worried about the fall in reserves, but it’s too early to panic,” he said, though he acknowledged an unresolved con-flict between overseas investors expecting the yuan to fall and the government’s belief that China’s fundamentals did not support continued depreciation.

How long before the cracks show in China’s great currency wall?ca p I ta l co n t ro l s

C M Y K

new mi

n Lei Jun, founder and CEO of China’s mobile company Xiaomi, displays the Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone at its launch ceremony, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday. REUTERS

Grand bargain to rescue global economy ‘unlikely’REUTERSSHANGHAI, FEB 24

Investors hoping for a grand plan from the world’s top financial officials to stabilize shaky markets are set for dis-appointment, insiders say, when finance ministers and central bankers gather this week in Shanghai to discuss the troubled global economy.

Stubbornly weak demand, falling equity markets and currency volatility pose a challenge to the Group of 20 (G20) major economies that some are comparing to its April 2009 meeting, at the height of the global financial crisis, when ministers agreed on coordinated stimulus to avert a worldwide depression.

Many G20 members are urging stimulus and better policy coordination, but with no convergence about what to do a deal along the lines of the 1985 Plaza Accord, which reversed a detribalizing surge in the dollar, appears unlikely. “Fina-ncial markets need something refreshing, but we are not expecting a ‘Plaza’-like policy accord,” said a Japan official. “There’s no magic bullet.” With divergent mone-tary policies exacerbating

currency market volatility, China, the G20 chair in 2016, has said strengthening policy coordination and reducing “negative spillovers” from domestic policy measures was a “pressing task”.

Others, including the United States and Japan, are planning to urge G20 states to do more to counter market turmoil and use fiscal policy to support the global economy. “The global picture is less rosy than it was a year ago,” said an Italian official, who declined to be identified, add-ing the Feb. 26-27 meeting was “unlikely to produce any short-term crisis responses”.

In 1985, the Plaza Accord was struck among just five industrialized countries. Today, the divergent interests between the major developed and big emerging economies that make up the G20 makes agreement on strong,

coordinated action much harder, analysts say.

“There is a risk that a G20 outcome that has no specifici-ty will get the same reviews as a pointless movie sequel, but cause more financial stress and further asset market sell-ing,” Citi said in a research note this week. “However we think they can give enough indications that policy is not dead to give modest support to asset markets.”

China will likely attempt to set minds at ease about its ability to manage its slowest growth in a quarter century and plans to reform its econo-

my—and by extension China’s ability to offset weak consumer demand in devel-oped economies.

“We’re concerned that if you have sustained financial turmoil, increasing risk aver-sion, further falls in risk assets, further turbulence, particularly in China, that could be enough to tip the global economy over the edge into recession territory,” said Charles Collyns, chief econo-mist at the Institute of International Finance.

One concern for China has been has been the rate of cap-ital outflows, which has prompted some economists to suggest Beijing should tempo-rarily back-pedal on liberaliz-ing reforms and tighten capi-tal controls.

China’s yuan currency has been losing value against the dollar since 2014, weakened by factors including a renewed

enthusiasm for dollar assets, falling interest rates and concerns about capital flight. A surprise currency devaluation in August 2015 accelerated the decline.

To slow the slide, the People’s Bank of China has intervened heavily to support the exchange rate, moved to stem speculative capital outflows and said it was not planning further currency devaluation.

Another worry among international investors is whether the Chinese govern-ment is up to the task of man-aging an increasingly com-plex economy. Botched attempts to arrest falling stock markets last year dented confidence and caused over-seas markets to shudder.

China is not seen as the only country with communi-cations problems, however. In the developed world, the apparent lack of monetary policy coordination between the United States, Japan and Europe will also factor, insid-ers said, with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde urging G20 policymakers to think about the “spillovers” from their policies.

stubbornly weak demand, falling equity markets and currency volatility pose a challenge to the group of

20 major economies

Oil extends losses in AsiaAgEncE FRAncE-PRESSESINGAPORE, FEB 24

Oil prices fell further in Asia on Wednesday after OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia shut the door on an output cut to ease the global crude supply glut, touting only a freeze in pro-duction. Traders were cau-tious ahead of the release later Wednesday of data on US commercial crude stockpiles which have been rising for weeks, indicating softer demand in the world’s top energy consumer.

By 0640 GMT, US bench-mark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in April was down 67 cents, or 2.10 per-cent, at $31.20 and Brent crude for April fell 44 cents, or 1.32 percent, to $32.83 a barrel. WTI tumbled 4.6 percent and Brent tanked 4.1 percent on Tuesday. “We think that it’s inevitable that oil prices move back below the $30 market soon as supply continues to outstrip demand and invento-ry levels are very high,” Jason Wong, a currency strategist in Wellington at Bank of New Zealand said in an e-mail to clients, Bloomberg said.

Saudi Arabia and Russia—the world’s top oil producing nations—had proposed to freeze output if other producers followed suit, brief-ly perking up prices which fell

to near 13-year lows on February 11. But Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh described the proposal as a “very funny joke”, as produc-tion levels vary widely among oil producers.

There was a “litany of oil-negative comments”, said Bernard Aw, market strategist at IG Markets in Singapore. “Saudi oil minister said the country will not reduce out-put, while Iran said the Saudi-Russia pact is ‘ridiculous’ amid plans to raise Iranian oil output”. He added: “These developments reinforced my view that there is unlikely to be any concrete plans to ease the supply glut in the near term. Any solutions may be demand-led when the global economy picks up pace.”

While trimming production may be out of the picture for now, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said he remained hopeful other producers would join a tentative freeze to January output levels it had agreed with Russia, Qatar and Venezuela last week.

west texas intermediate for delivery in April was down 2.1 pc at $31.20 and Brent

crude for April fell 1.32pc to $32.83 a barrel

Black list threat effective: FATFAgEncE FRAncE-PRESSEPARIS, FEB 24

A threat to add countries who are slow to combat terror-ism financing to a public black list has proved effective in pushing them into action, a top executive at an interna-tional task force said ahead of G20 talks on the topic opening on Friday.

Since the Paris attacks in November, some 50 countries have responded to a new call by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for concrete steps to choke the funding of terrorist organisa-tions, the body’s executive sec-retary, David Lewis, told AFP.

The threat of inclusion on the FAFT’s black list of governments failing to comply has been instrumental to get this reponse, he said

in an interview, as states tried to avoid being named and shamed. “The prospect of the FATF taking such action has led to more than 50 coun-tries amending legislation or being in the process of doing so,” Lewis said. “So we see countries act very quickly to ensure that they do not get onto that list.”

The FAFT’s current black list includes North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria. Iran is also high on the list but Tehran, which last July signed a deal with western powers ending economic sanc-tions, has now signalled its willingness to cooperate,

Lewis said. “Iran is coming back to the table. They have approached us. They have shown a willingness to start cooperating with us,” he said.

G20 countries asked the FATF to evaluate progress on measures against illicit money flows ahead of their meeting in Shanghai this week which will discuss the fight against terrorism financ-ing. The FATF, created in 1989 to promote the fight against money laundering, terrorism financing and other threats to the international financial system, has found that governments’ responses are still woefully inadequate

measured against the threats, Lewis said. “Only 36 countries have ever convicted someone for terrorism financing and only 40 have used targeted financial sanctions,” he noted.

Freezing assets is effective, but often takes up to a month to implement, Lewis said. “In a world where you can move funds in seconds online, that is not an adequate response to the threat we are facing,” he said, adding his organisation had made a push for swifter action a priority.

Targeting money flows exploits a major vulnerability of organisations like Islamic State who need massive funds to function, Lewis said.

“They require substantial amounts of money to be able to operate, because they try to provide some of the services of a state.”

fight against terror financing

since the Paris attacks in nov, some 50 countries have responded to a new call by Financial Action task Force for concrete steps to choke funding of terrorist organisations

More public cash eyed as turnaround remains elusiveREUTERSNEW DELHI, FEB 24

Indian Railways will have to depend on more government support and borrowing to fix their finances in its budget on Thursday, with New Delhi reluctant to unveil steep fare hikes ahead of key state elec-tions, officials said.

India’s railways, the world’s fourth largest, is a lifeline for 23 million people, mostly poor, but years of underinvestment have strained the system to the limit, reducing average speeds to 50 km per hour and forcing companies to ship freight on clogged roads.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government unveiled a $137 billion, 5-year modernisa-tion plan last year to overhaul the largely coloni-al-era network and boost

growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, but a slump in pas-senger and freight revenues this year is straining its finances.

Total revenue is up 5.8 per-cent in the first 10 months of this financial year, below the double-digit pace in the past. A proposed 24 percent hike in the salaries of 2.6 million employees and pensioners, meanwhile, will land the rail-ways with a wage bill of about $4.7 billion.

Senior government officials said raising freight tariffs sig-nificantly was not on the cards, and that a steep rise in passenger fares in Thursday’s railway budget also was unlikely as fewer-than-expect-ed travellers catch the train and an industrial slowdown

crimps the growth of freight.Modi’s government is also

expected to focus on more pop-ulist spending in Monday’s Union Budget to shore up sup-port among poorer Indians ahead of four state elections this year, making big fare hikes tough to justify.

“The railways are not doing well and there is this revenue shortfall but it will be very difficult to raise fares,” said Shri Prakash, a former member of the Railway Board.

He said stiff competition from airlines for wealthier travellers, whose higher fares are a major source of revenue, had hurt the railways’ earn-ings along with a fall in demand for major goods like coal and cement.

indian railway budget

Gold holds above $1200REUTERSSINGAPORE, FEB 24

Gold retained sharp overnight gains on Wednesday, bolstered along with other safe-haven assets as risk-aversion in the market sent equities tum-bling. Asian shares fell as a nascent recovery in crude prices lost momentum after Saudi Arabia’s oil minister effectively ruled out produc-tion cuts by major producers anytime soon. The yen gained against key peers such as the dollar and euro.

Spot gold eased slightly to $1,225.60 an ounce by 0659 GMT, after gaining about 1.5 percent in the previous ses-sion. “Bullion’s ability to hold above $1,200 is impressive. The longer it does so, the stronger a base it will build,” said HSBC analyst James Steel. “As long as gold-ETF demand holds up, we believe

the gold rally can be sus-tained.” Investors have been channelling money into bul-lion, as shown by flows into exchange-traded funds. Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the top gold-backed ETF, are at their highest since March 2015. The fund’s inflows since the begin-ning of the year have already surpassed outflows for the whole of 2015.

The inflows so far have been able to offset the lack of interest from key Asian buy-ers, who have taken advantage of the gold rally to sell bullion and take profits. Discounts in India are at a record of about

$50 an ounce to the global benchmark, while in China they are at about $1.

Gold has gained 16 percent so far this year, making it one of the best performing assets of the year, on the back of concerns over the global econ-omy and the sell-off in stocks. Technically, gold looks set to test recent highs at $1,240 and then a one-year top of $1,260, MKS Group trader Jason Cerisola said.

The metal has also been helped by speculation that the Federal Reserve may not raise US interest rates this year, after the first rate hike in nearly a decade in December. Signs of a slowdown in the global economy and volatile financial markets have led investors to bet against rate hikes any time soon. Prices for US fed funds futures sug-gest investors see little chance of any increases this year.

Page 4: SEZ plans changes to Siddhartha Gas working procedureepaper-archive-01.ekantipur.com/epaper/the... · Black list threat effective: FATF Page III A threat to add countries who are

moneybazaar IVThursday, February 25, 2016 | thekathmandupost

Sonapur Cement, IFC sign agreement KATHMANDU: Sonapur Cement and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have signed a cooperation agreement to conduct “resource efficiency assessment” at its manufacturing facilities. The assessment is aimed at saving costs, preventing waste and reducing green-house gas emissions through more efficient use of ener-gy, water, and materials, the company said in a state-ment. “Imbibing sustainable practices in our plants has been a key focus area for us at Sonapur Cement. The agreement will pave the way to make our plant more energy efficient. We are looking forward to IFC’s guid-ance and advisory support to implement this,” said Nipesh Tayal, managing director. (PR)

Xiaomi unveils new flagship handset BARCELONA: China’s leading smartphone maker, Xiaomi, unveiled Wednesday its new flagship device, the Mi 5, which aims to provide speedy processing and light weight at a relatively low cost. The Mi 5, which was pre-sented on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, comes in three versions. The Mi 5 Pro, with more memory and a ceramic body, will cost 2,699 yuan ($354). The cheapest version will cost 1,999 yuan ($262). They will go on sale in China on March 1. Xiaomi led China in smartphone sales in 2015, ship-ping 64.9 million smartphones, or about 15 percent of the market, according to research firm IDC. It sells its phones in China, India and a few other countries. (AP)

United Tech nixes Honeywell mergerNEW YORK: United Technologies chief executive Greg Hayes said Tuesday that a merger with Honeywell would not work. After weeks of discussions, Hayes said in a CNBC television interview, “what became apparent to us is that it just can’t happen, can’t happen from a regulato-ry standpoint, from a customer standpoint”. “There’s no path forward that we could see opportunistic,” he added. “It ain’t gonna happen.” CNBC had reported Monday that Honeywell initiated the merger talks within the last two weeks, offering United Technologies a premium in stock and cash. A deal would create an industrial tech-nology giant with about $95 billion in annual sales. (AFP)

Mars recalls Dutch-made chocolatesTHE HAGUE: US chocolate giant Mars Tuesday ordered a massive international recall of Mars and Snickers bars made at its Dutch factory after a piece of plastic found in one snack was traced back to the site. Millions of choco-late bars were deemed possibly unsafe for consumption in 55 countries after a customer in Germany found a piece of red plastic in his Snickers bar last month. The recall of the chocoholic snacks also affects Milky Way minis and some boxes of Celebrations, and hit most European countries. But it also extended as far as Vietnam and Sri Lanka in Asia. (AFP)

Argentina plans to borrow $15 billionBUENOS AIRES: Argentina aims to borrow $15 billion when it returns to debt markets so it can pay off interna-tional creditors who have sued it in a US court, the gov-ernment said. The new market-friendly center-right gov-ernment of Latin America’s third-biggest economy is seeking to settle a 15-year dispute over debts dating back to its 2001 default. Its new US-trained Economy Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay told reporters the government would issue $15 billion in new bonds to raise the amount it expects to pay off the creditors. That amount includes a $6.5 billion payment agreed in a deal this month between Argentina and some of the investors in the US court case. (AFP)

Mexico’s growth slows to 0.5 percentMEXICO CITY: Mexico’s economy slowed more than previ-ously forecast in the fourth quarter as the agricultural and industrial sectors contracted, official figures showed on Tuesday. Latin America’s second economy grew by 0.5 percent between October and December compared to the third quarter, according to the national statistics insti-tute, which had forecast 0.6 growth. The economy was pulled down by a 1.9 percent contraction in agriculture in the fourth quarter while the industrial sector, which includes mining and oil, shrank 0.4 percent. On an annu-al comparison, the economy grew by 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter. (AFP)

India’s BSE Sensex ends lowerMUMBAI: India’s stock markets ended more than a percent lower on Wednesday, posting the second drop after four sessions of gains, as investors turned jittery ahead of next week’s Union Budget, with a reversal in oil prices putting further pressure on the market. Equity markets back home were also slightly volatile a day ahead of the expiry of monthly derivatives contracts. The broader NSE Nifty fell 1.28 percent to 7,018.70, not far from the session’s low of 7,009.75. The benchmark BSE Sensex declined 1.37 percent to close at 23,088.93. More than 1000 stocks declined against 444 stocks advanced on the NSE index, with Housing Development Finance Corp and HDFC Bank contributing nearly a quarter to the Nifty fall. (REUTERS)

Time Inc explores bid for Yahoo bizSAN FRANCISCO: Time Inc, publisher of Sports Illustrated, People and Time magazines, has been explor-ing a bid to acquire Yahoo Inc’s core Internet business for several weeks, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Tuesday. Time Inc has been reaching out to bankers on pursuing a deal with Yahoo, according to the source, who wished to remain anonymous, not being permitted to speak to media. Time Inc, which has seen print advertising dollars dry up in recent quarters, has been trying to boost its digital presence through acquisi-tions of online properties, saying this month it would buy social networking pioneer MySpace. Verizon Communications Inc, which owns Internet pioneer AOL, has expressed interest in Yahoo’s core business. (REUTERS)

bizline

C M Y K

Agence FrAnce-PresseSEOUL, FEb 24

Seoul’s oldest and largest fish market—a city landmark and tourist hot-spot—is fighting a move to a futuristic, half-bil-lion-dollar facility, with ven-dors insisting they prefer the sprawling, run-down site they have called home for 45 years.

The dispute mirrors others in the vibrant South Korean capital, where design upgrades of some traditional locations and neighbourhoods are being fiercely resisted. Nestled between densely packed high-rises in the southern part of the city, Noryangjin Whol-esale Fisheries Market is a 24-ho-ur sensory overload that sells pretty much every seafood imaginable—much of it still alive. The Suhyup corporation

which manages the market wants it moved into a shiny, steel and glass, state-of-the-art facility that it built next door—in the shape of a dolphin—at significant expense. The man-agement argues that the cur-rent site is outdated, ineffi-cient and structurally danger-ous, while the vendors say the stalls they are being offered in the new building are too small and over-priced.

Moving would “completely scrap the Noryangjin brand,” said Lee Seung-Ki, who repre-sents a vendors’ committee pushing for the refurbishment of the current site. The plans echo the situation in Tokyo, home to the famed Tsukiji market—the world’s biggest fish emporium, which authori-ties are planning to move to a new, more modern facility this

year at an estimated cost of $3.8 billion. Advocates say the new site, which is 40 percent larger with state-of-the-art refrigeration, will give the pop-ular tourist draw a badly-need technological update, but some vendors feel they are being

shunted away from a prime location. Noryangjin snoozes but never sleeps, with some sort of wholesale or retail activity going on round the clock. In the main retail sec-tion, banks of fish tan-ks, swarming with sea bream, ha-

libut, skate, giant crab and octopus, form water-slicked corridors that stretch into the far distance.

Vendors dressed in blood-stained aprons and rubber boots engage in noisy and constant co- mpetition for customers who range from home shoppers to high-end city restaurants.

“Nory- angjin is my life,” said 73-year-old Baek Kyung-Boo, who has been selling shellfish in the market with his wife ever since it opened in its current location in 1971.

Baek’s average day starts around 3:30am when he attends the fiercely competi-tive wholesale auction to pick up his daily stock. “I spend up to 15 hours a day here,” he said, as a motorbike zipped by carrying a precarious stack of

boxes full of fish.The 66,000 square-meter

market has been operating 24/7 since South Korea lifted a nighttime curfew in 1982, and serves 30,000 customers a day. It has become a cultural land-mark that attracts hundreds of tourists—many to sample a local delicacy of still wriggling octopus, cut up live and slath-ered in sesame oil.

Vendors opposed to the move fear the market will lose its identity and the sights, sounds, smells and general chaos that make it both authentic and unique. But the management is insistent.

The current building is over 40 years old. Many parts of it are corroding and it’s danger-ous for both the vendors and customers,” said Suhyup’s Kim Duck-Ho.

Chaotic, historic Korean fish market resists gentrificationp l a n n e d d es I g n u p g ra d e

n A file photo shows the Noryangjin fish market in Seoul. AFP/RSS

Uber makes first two-wheeler foray with Bangkok motorbikes

Agence FrAnce-PressebANGKOK, FEb 24

Uber offered its first motorbike taxi service on Wednesday, launching a pilot scheme in Bangkok which could spread across Asia as it takes on chief regional rival Grab Taxi.

Motorbikes have long been a popular commuting option in the Thai capital, which has horren-dous traffic jams due to increased car ownership and poor city planning. Ubiquitous motorbike taxi drivers, found at stands across the city wearing bright orange jackets, weave in and out of stalled traffic with both skill and knuckle-whitening speed.

An Uber motorbike which col-lects passengers from their office or home could prove popular with commuters. But Uber will be up against both Singapore-

based Grab Taxi, which began offering a Bangkok motorbike service alongside its cabs last year, and the tens of thousands of regular motorbike taxi drivers who jealously guard their patch-es. “I’m really excited to say Thailand is the first country to launch a two-wheeled motorcycle product in all of our cities,” Douglas Ma, Uber’s head of Asia expansion, told reporters.

The US company has become one of the world’s most valuable startups, worth an estimated $50 billion and with a presence in 68 countries. But it has faced regu-latory hurdles and protests from established taxi operators in

most locations where it has launched.

Both Uber and Grab Taxi have shaken up the taxi industry in Bangkok, providing an alterna-tive to the capital’s often mercu-rial cabbies who routinely decline fares or refuse to use their meters. The company will initially roll out the bikes in three commercial districts and says the fares should be cheaper than regular motorbike taxis.

Uber will focus on Thailand but does not rule out launching similar services in other traf-fic-clogged Asian megacities like Jakarta and Manila. “This is the first time we’re doing it in any

market in the world, so our hope is to develop it and innovate it,” Ma told AFP. “If it makes sense, absolutely we want to look at other markets.”

Ma declined to say how many motorbike drivers the company had already signed up but said it was in the thousands. At a stand in the commercial district of Chidlom, motorbike taxi driver Winai Bunprueng said he was unlikely to join up. “If I joined the app and I refused to go, they would reprimand or sack me—but for me now, if I can’t agree with passengers on the prices, I won’t go,” the 37-year-old said.

Chalerm Changthongmadan, head of the Association of Taxi Motorcyclists of Thailand, said he was concerned by the arrival of start-up competitors. “I think it will bring conflict among peo-ple who do these jobs,” he said.

Uber will mainly focus on Thailand but does not rule out launching similar services in other traffic-clogged

Asian megacities like Jakarta and Manila

n Douglas Ma, head of Asia expansion at Uber, sits on a motorbike during the launch of UberMOTO in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday. AFP/RSS

Cooking gas shipment halted by worker unrestHArIHAr sIngH rATHOreJOGIMARA, (DHADING)

Tribeni Gas Industry in Jogimara, Dhading has not been able to ship out cooking gas for the past week due to a protest launched by its workers.

The government had ordered gas plants to issue fully filled cylinders from Tuesday, but six agitating workers have been preventing the factory from deliv-ering its products.

“About 35 tonnes of gas brought in two bullets are stuck at the plant,” said Subodh Subedi, man-ager of Tribeni Gas Industry.

“Cylinders are in short supply as gas plants were told to sell half-filled cylinders so that there would be more gas to go around.”

According to Subedi, they could not implement the government’s directive to distribute fully filled cylinders as six local workers have been staging a protest.

One of the agitators Sajan Basnet said that the plant owners didn’t listen to their demands which they had presented six months ago. Two trucks loaded with gas

cylinders have not been allowed to leave for Kathmandu.

Subedi said the owners Santosh Bhagat and Khagendra Shrestha have been asked to come to the

factory to settle the dispute with the workers.

Meanwhile, Nanda Lal Sharma, administrative officer at the District Administration Office,

Dhading, said that the factory owners had been instructed to sort things out to ensure that gas distribution is not disrupted. There are 13 gas plants in Dhading.

market watch

Vegetables Unit Price (Rs)

Fruits Unit Price (Rs)

Red Potato Kg Rs35

White Potato Kg Rs30

Onion (Indian) Kg Rs40

Tomato Small Kg Rs35

Tomato big Kg Rs45

Squash Kg Rs45

Cabbage Kg Rs30

Egg Plant Long kg Rs70

Cow Pea Kg Rs60

daIly commodItIes

gasolIne watch

bullIon PRICE PER TOLA

SOURCE: FENEGOSIDA

Apple Kg Rs105

Pomegranate Kg Rs200

Mango Kg Rs120

Water Melon Kg Rs65

Orange Kg Rs75

Pineapple 1Pc Rs95

Cucumber Kg Rs95

Pear Kg Rs190

Papaya Kg Rs75

banana Doz Rs80

Lime 100 Pcs Rs475

Pokhreli Rice Kg Rs70

Jeera Masino Rice Kg Rs70

Indian basmati Rice Kg Rs100

Mansuli Rice Kg Rs55

Sona Rice Kg Rs50

beaten Rice (Taichin) Kg Rs120

beaten Rice Kg Rs55

big Mas Kg Rs280

Small Mas Kg Rs260

big Mung Kg Rs220

Musuro (No 1) Kg Rs180

Musuro (No 2) Kg Rs170

Rahar Kg Rs290

Chana (big) Kg Rs160

Chana (Small) Kg Rs150

Chilli Powder Kg Rs350

Commodities Unit Price (Rs)

Int’l market

Energy Price (US$) %Change

Agriculture Price (US$) %Change

Industrial Metals Price (US$) %Change

Copper Future (Lb) 206.9 -1.73

Precious Metals Price (US$) %Change

Gold 100 Oz Futr (T Oz) 1,237.10 1.19Silver Future (T Oz) 15.4 0.75

Cocoa Future (Mt) 2,879.00 -0.35Coffee ‘C’ Future (Lb) 116.65 -2.18Corn Future (bu) 365.5 -0.34Cotton No. 2 Futr (Lb) 57.85 -0.26Rough Rice (Cbot) (Cwt) 10.5 -0.90Soybean Future (bu) 871 -0.23Soybean Meal Futr (T) 265 0.26Soybean Oil Futr (Lb) 30.84 -0.55Sugar #11 (World) (Lb) 13.23 3.68Wheat Future (Cbt) (bu) 454 -0.38

Hallmark Gold Rs56,000

Tejabi Gold Rs55,750

Silver Rs735

RETAIL PRICE

brent Crude Futr (bbl) 32.43 -2.52Gas Oil Fut (Ice) (Mt) 299 -0.99Gasoline Rbob Fut (Gal) 95.37 -1.30Natural Gas Futr (Mmbtu) 1.77 -0.45


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