Vehicles major contributor to customs revenue

KATHMANDU, AUG 12 - 2013

Imports of automobiles and their parts accounted for 16.54 percent of the government’s revenue during the last fiscal year 2012-13, the department has announced.

The DoC collected a total of Rs 126 billion revenue during the year in customs duty, value added tax (VAT) and excise duty. Out of that figure, Rs 22.11 billion was collected from cars, bikes and chassis, according to the DoC.

In the vehicle import category, car, jeep, van generated the highest amount of revenue totalling Rs 10.2 billion, followed by the bike which accounts Rs 9.8 billion.

Likewise, the government collected revenue of Rs 2.1 billion from the import

of bus and truck chassis. Each year, the import of items such as vehicle and gold contributes huge amount to the government revenue. DoC officials attribute the rise in revenue collection to the growth in import of the automobile products and dollar appreciation.

New vehicles totalling 208,483 units, including 175,381 bikes and 9,595 units of the car, jeep, van were imported into the country in the last fiscal year, according to the Department of Transport Management (DoTM). The registration was up by 22 percent on 170,084 vehicles in the country during the previous fiscal year 2011-12.

Devi Ram Bhandari, spokesperson for the DoTM said that the import and sales had increased after a slowdown for a few years in the local market. “Mainly the business of two-wheelers is growing with the sales picking up,” he added. The automobile products are among the top ten products imported into the country.

Besides the vehicles, high-speed diesel, petrol, LP Gas, MS billet, garment, brown cement and polythene granules feature on the top 10 lists of imported products in terms of revenue collection. The government collected revenue of Rs 9.02 billion from the import of high-speed diesel, Rs 5.94 billion from petrol and Rs 4.13 billion from LP Gas.

According to the annual review report, the country imported agri products and other foodstuffs worth Rs 30.73 billion, up from Rs 19.64 billion in the previous fiscal. Revenue of Rs 1.61 was collected from the import of the foodstuffs. Rice, wheat, maize and potato are the major agri products imported during the last fiscal year.

Source: The Kathmandu Post

VAT, income tax collection rises

KATHMANDU, JUNE 07: 

The recent revenue mobilisation trend has revealed that the contribution of customs to total revenue mobilisation has been decreasing unlike earlier years but that of Value Added Tax (VAT) and income tax has been increasing.

The contribution of customs has come down to 20 per cent, whereas the contribution of

VAT and income tax has gone up to 29 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively.

The country has to reduce customs duty according to its commitment to the global trade regime by 2015, thus the contribution of income tax and VAT must help cover customs revenue.

Thus, the country needs to expand the tax net and plug tax leakages, said finance minister Shankar Koirala during a meeting at the Finance Ministry here, today.

The organisational structure of the Inland Revenue Department has to be changed, Koirala said, asking the revenue administration to be alert on revenue leakages.

However, senior economic adviser to the finance ministry Dr Chiranjivi Nepal doubted the sustainability of the increase in revenue mobilisation. Suggesting for an expansion in the tax net, he asked the revenue administration to bring the informal sector under the tax net.

“Despite the delayed budget, revenue mobilisation has been encouraging, but bringing the informal economy under the tax net will help sustain the increasing trend.”

The informal sector is as big as the formal sector and has been hurting the economy. Rising inflation despite low money supply and decreasing remittance has been attributed to the ballooning informal sector that has hurt VAT mobilisation.

Though revenue mobilisation has been encouraging, VAT and excise mobilisation has not been satisfactory, said finance secretary Shanta Raj Subedi. “The revenue administration has to start a coordinated campaign to plug the VAT and excise loopholes,” he suggested, asking it to work on meeting the targets of the next two months.

Likewise, joint secretary Rajan Khanal apprised the meeting of the revenue administration’s weakness in bringing the informal sector under the tax net that has bled the economy white. “Rising imports, scientific valuation, reforms in revenue administration, and

increasing contribution of non-tax revenue are attributed to

the increased revenue mobilisation,” he said, adding that lack of capacity building of human resource, low participation of tax payers who are already in the tax net, and the inability to mobilise arrears are some of the weaknesses of the revenue administration.

Tight and disciplined revenue administration is key as the government has projected to achieve 30 per cent to 35 per cent revenue mobilisation growth in the next fiscal year 2013-14, as compared to the current fiscal year.

The government needs to mobilise only Rs 55.15 billion revenue — in the next two months — to meet the current fiscal year’s revenue mobilisation target of Rs 289.60 billion. It has been able to mobilise Rs 234.45 billion revenue against the target of Rs 226.05 billion — by the 10th month of the current fiscal year — swelling the government coffer, though it has been unable to spend on development activities as it has Rs 56 billion in its vault.

The government has mobilised Rs 68.29 billion VAT, Rs 52.12 billion income tax, Rs 46.73 billion customs, Rs 29.05 billion excise, Rs 30.34 billion under non-tax, and Rs 7.92 billion — including Rs 4.02 billion registration fee and Rs 3.90 billion transportation tax — under others to make it a total of Rs 234.45 billion by the end of 10 months of the current fiscal year.

The total revenue mobilisation is 23.35 per cent higher than the same period of last fiscal year 2011-12.

Source: THT

Revenue collection 2pc above target in H1

KATHMANDU, FEB 01 - 2013

The government collected Rs 134.57 billion in revenue during the first half of the current fiscal year, surpassing the target by 2.04 percent.

According to the Finance Ministry, the government earned Rs 27.07 billion in customs

duty, Rs 40.13 billion in value added tax (VAT), Rs 30.64 billion in income tax and Rs 17.69 billion in excise duty.

Likewise, income from registration fees reached Rs 1.74 billion, vehicle tax Rs 2.15 billion and non-tax sources such as royalty and dividends Rs 14.5 billion.

The total intake was up 21.2 percent year on year. The Finance Ministry said that tax revenue jumped 25.72 percent while non-tax revenue declined 6.56 percent during the period.

Revenue collection may have climbed during the first six months, but the ministry said it was due more to an increase in imports, and thus not a cause for excessive jubilation. Chief of the ministry’s Revenue Management Department Rajan Khanal said collection of VAT and excise duty under the Inland Revenue Department was not as high as that from the customs offices.

During a review meeting of the revenue collection status of the first half of the fiscal on Thursday, Khanal said that the rate of revenue collection had been in decline in the latter part of the period. “The reason of this drop should be analyzed,” the ministry said in a press release.

He added that low spending by the public sector would make revenue collection challenging in the days ahead. “A change in the exchange rate of the US dollar could also affect customs revenue in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking at the interaction, director general of the IRD Tanka Mani Sharma said the level of VAT collection was not satisfactory due to a fall in capital expenditure. “Revenue collection is challenging as the revenue policy could not be changed in the absence of a full budget,” he added.

Finance secretary Shanta Raj Subedi directed the offices under the Finance Ministry to move ahead with a clear work plan in order to collect more revenue.

He also instructed them to adopt specific measures to increase inland VAT, take stringent action to raise VAT collection from the service sector, work to bring untouched sectors under the tax net and control leakages through a partnership between the IRD and the Department of Revenue Investigation.

National Planning Commission vice-chairman Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry, Nepal Rastra Bank governor Yubaraj Khatiwada and economic advisor to the Finance Ministry Sri Ram Poudel, among others, took part in the review meeting.

Source: The Kathmandu Post

Control revenue leakage: Pun

KATHMANDU, OCT 1: 

The Central Revenue Leakages Control Committee, led by finance minister Barshaman Pun, today, directed all revenue leakages control committees at the district level, led by the chief district officer, to develop an immediate strategy to control revenue leakage.

The meeting, which was held at the Finance Ministry, also directed security agencies and customs offices to accelerate their initiative to control revenue leakage during the festive season.

Concluding that the smuggling of goods will rise in the festive season, the committee asked the concerned agencies to tighten the inspection of vehicles and verify customs declaration forms to ensure genuine transportation of cargo.

The meeting also concluded that customs offices across the country should tighten its vigil to control revenue leakage.

The Department of Customs should check consignment evaluation daily and put its effort in maintaining the price structure of essential commodities.

It also directed the Inland Revenue Department to check whether or not big departmental stores were issuing invoices. Similarly, the meeting directed the Department of Revenue Investigation to identify and carry out raids in warehouses where suspected goods are stored.

The meeting also directed concerned agencies to tighten the customs point at Tribhuwan International Airport. It also asked the Armed Police Force to formulate a Standard Operating Procedure within 15 days to increase revenue-control patrols and ensure the security of industries.

The meeting decided to provide equipment and logistics to the security forces so that they are able to carry out their duties in an effective manner.

The finance minister directed officials at the ministry to study the smuggling trend of the previous Dashain and improve customs valuation system to increase revenue mobilisation.

The finance minister also asked all the concerned departments and representatives of security agencies

to take stringent action against those found guilty of revenue leakage.

Source: THT

Pokhara fails to meet revenue targets

POKHARA, Aug 20, 2012

Pokhara Sub Metropolitan City (PSMC)´s laxness in implementing tax policy and setting clear priorities and goals for revenue collection has caused revenue losses worth crores of rupees annually. The financial report of the PSMC for the last three years shows that it has lagged behind in meeting its revenue collection targets year after year.

Officials say the PMSC has consistently failed to meet the targets because it has failed to maintain proper records of the tax payers and hasn´t conducted any review or research on the actual regular tax payers. The PSMC officials concede that the revenue targets fall short by more than crores rupees every year because of the sub-metropolitan city´s failure to bring high tax payers into the tax net. According to a tax official, high tax payers are reluctant to pay taxes citing immunities to the small tax payers.

The PSMC collected only 26 crores in the fiscal year 2011/12 which is 10 crores short of the targeted revenue goal.

According to Shivahari Sharma, a tax official at PSMC, the metropolitan city had set the goal of collecting 36 crores 85 lakh from different tax sources. The metropolitan office, however, gave various reasons for collecting only 71 percent of the target set.

In the last fiscal year, the PMSC was able to meet the target just from the revenues collected from land tax, tax on real estates, map approvals, penalties, rent from guest house and conference halls as well as seizure of deposits.

In the fiscal year 2010/11, the revenue failed to meet the target by 15 percent while in 2011/12 the target was short by 20 percent.
“Without brining all tax payers into the tax net, the target cannot be met,” said Sharma.

However PSMC has expressed its inability to collect the data on real tax payers due to the lack of human resources and means.

According to another official, the sub-metropolitan city has records of just 25 percent of the high tax payers out of the total.

He was of the opinion that the metropolitan office has failed to meet its revenue targets as it has been relying on the incomplete data on tax payers.
“The trend of evading taxes is another reason for the losses," Sharma said.

The sub-metropolitan city has so far shied away from making the names of the tax evaders public because of the political, economic and social clout wielded by such evaders. Another significant failure of the sub-metropolitan city has been its failure to enforce mandatory tax on around 42 private boarding schools operating in the city.

Source: Republica

Revenue of life insurers up 23.74%

KATHMANDU, June 12, 2012

Premium income of life insurance companies rose 23.74 percent over the first nine months of the current fiscal year, as sales and renewal of insurance policies went up.

A total of nine life insurance companies generated premium income of Rs 9.03 billion in the nine-month period till mid-April compared with Rs 7.29 billion earned in the same period last year, according to data provided by the Insurance Board -- the insurance sector regulator.

“The revenue went up as greater awareness on benefits of purchasing life insurance products, especially in rural and suburban areas, pushed up sales of insurance policies,” said Bharat Basnet, CEO of National Life Insurance. “Significant contribution was also made by our past clients who decided to renew their policies.”

Till the third quarter, life insurance companies generated Rs 3.03 billion by selling new insurance policies, while Rs 6 billion was generated through renewal of old policies.

Statistics shows Nepal Life Insurance contributed almost 24 percent to the revenue generated by life insurers, generating premium income of Rs 2.15 billion in the nine-month period, up 35.2 percent from same period last year. This made the insurance company the top life insurer in terms of premium collection.

Life Insurance Corporation took the second position in terms of premium income, collecting Rs 1.69 billion till the third quarter, a rise of 30.9 percent over last year´s figure. National Life Insurance came third generating a revenue of Rs 1.34 billion in the nine-month period, up 24.7 percent from same period last year.

Life insurance companies generated most of the revenue by selling and renewing traditional endowment policies - the most famous life insurance product in the market that usually matures on average of 15 years. Sales and renewal of these policies generated Rs 4.36 billion, or 48 percent of the total premium income of life insurance companies, the Insurance Board report shows.

Sales and renewal of endowment-cum-whole-life policies were also brisk during the period, as the product generated revenue of Rs 1.91 billion for insurers in the review period, up 22.6 percent.

The Insurance Board report, however, shows whole life insurance policies have lost their charm, as the product which accumulated Rs 135.92 million over the period in the last fiscal year was not able to generate any income this fiscal year.

“The product is not preferred by many as payments on these policies are made only after death of the person who has bought the product,” said Basnet.

Source: Republica

Realty sector gradually emerging out of trouble

KATHMANDU, MAY 20, 2012

Real estate transactions have picked up, albeit in slow pace, in the recent months, leading to increase in land registration fee collection.

According to the Finance Ministry, the land registration fee collection has increased by 16.16 percent to Rs 3.09 billion as of first 10 months of the current fiscal year compared to Rs 2.66 billion over the same period last fiscal year.

According to data provided by the Department of Land Reforms and Management (DoLRM), land registration fee collection has remained higher this year compared to last year except during the first three months. The DoLRM collected a revenue of Rs 723.6 million in the first three months of this fiscal compared to Rs 756.2 million over the same period last year.

However, the collection of land registration fee has not met the target. For the first 10 months this year, the government had targeted to collect Rs 3.81 billion.

While looking at the land revenue collection over the last three years, collection started to suffer since banks and financial institutions started discouraging real estate loans as per the direction of Nepal Rastra Bank in the middle of fiscal year 2009-10.

The land registration fee collection dropped to Rs 3.21 billion in FY 2010-11 from Rs 4.65 billion in FY 2009-10 owing to the recession in the real estate sector. The revenue collection, however, has improved of late with realty traders reporting gradual increase in their trades.

Ichchha Raj Tamang, president of the Nepal Land and Housing Developers’ Association (NLHDA), said transactions in individual lands have slowly gone up, bringing relief to housing developers. “The government’s soft corner has helped revive the realty sector,” he said.

Tamang’s thought is shared by Min Man Shrestha, general secretary of the NLHDA. He explained that the housing and apartment sales have gone up by 25-30 percent in the recent days, while the low-cost lands are also being sold in the recent days.

He attributes the recent growth to banks’ decision to lower interest rate on home loans, which has now come down to 10-11 percent.

Bankers also admit that they have started providing home loans although they are reluctant provide extra loans to housing projects.

CEO of NIC Bank Sashin Joshi said that the home loans bear less risk compared to loans provided to developers, and banks are more willing to disburse home loans in the recent days.

Realty traders are of the view that loans should be given to developers to allow them to complete the housing and apartment projects. But the developers’ poor repayment record has forced the banks not to make extra lending to the developers.

 “Repayment is poor and it may aggravate at the end of the current fiscal year when all banks go for recovery of the loans at bigger scale,” said Joshi.

The Nepal Rastra Bank holds the same assessment. “The realty sector has not improved at all,” said a senior NRB official.  “Higher revenue collection by the land revenue offices could be due to higher declaration of purchase price by buyers amid threat that they might have to show income source on many other occasions,” said the central bank official.

However, the government’s efforts as well as excess liquidity in the banks and financial institutions are expected to help boost the realty sector. The government is mulling to arrange cheap loans for its employees so that they could purchase apartments from the developers.

The government has also raised the investment ceiling in the realty sector, with the investors no longer required to show source of their income up to Rs 10 million from the previous limit of Rs 5 million.

Source: The Kathmandu Post

Revenue collection picks up but still short of target

KATHMANDU, May 18, 2012

The government has mobilized Rs 190.08 billion in revenue over the first ten months of 2011/12, posting a growth of 19.6 percent in the same period last year.

As the revenue growth targeted for the fiscal year is 20 percent, the collection is short of the target. “But we are optimistic about attaining the annual target, which is about Rs 242 billion, as the rate of collections that  had slid through mid-January till mid-March has gone up now,” said Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota.

The revenue collection at the end of six months, that is, by mid-January 2012, had touched Rs 111.03 billion, recording an increase of 21.6 percent over the revenue collected in the same period last year.

But the growth trend had suddenly nosedived to 17.4 percent by the end of the eighth month (that is, mid-March). In the ninth month, collections had grown by 18.1 percent and performance has further improved at the end of mid-May.

The breakdown of collections from different sources shows VAT contributed more than 31 percent in the total revenue collected so far. Collections from VAT over the first 10 months of 2011/12 stood at Rs 59.40 billion.

Income Tax was the second biggest contributor and generated Rs 39.35 billion during the period.

Likewise, collections from customs duty totaled at Rs 33.81 billion, while excise duty generated Rs 23.97 billion in revenue during the period. Collections from registration fee and vehicles tax remained less than target and stood at Rs 3.09 billion and Rs 3.18 billion respectively.

Likewise, non-tax sources, generated only around Rs 27.28 billion in revenue.

Source: Republica

Reserved Optimism

KATHMANDU, MAR 4, 2012

Reserved The realty is expecting some boom with significant growth in interest of the buyers and investment in the sector. With Nepal Rastra Bank easing up and some relief provided by the budget earlier this year, transactions have soared in the recent months. In addition to this, Department of Land Reform and Management is hopeful about achieving its goals regarding revenue collection in the current financial year, restoring the sector to its previous glory.

“However, it is too early to assume the realty will redeem itself from ongoing recession,” says Kamal Prasad Timalsina, undersecretary of Department of Land Reform and Management. According to him, the winter season is the peak season for the transactions related to land, raising the revenue collection.

As Nepali months of Poush and Magh are off-season for usual agricultural activity, they are most preferred time for purchasing and selling of the lands and real estate. Hence, Timalsina considers it to be too early to determine that the rises are due to the actual recovery of the realty. “Nevertheless, we not just met but exceeded our target of Rs 405.58 millions by collecting Rs 416.56 millions, making the total collection surpass the estimation by additional two per cent,” he shares.

The Department of Land Reform and Management has already achieved 73.81 per cent of its target set forward in revenue collection for this financial year. He adds, “Our target is that of Rs 4.40 billion and if the current trend continues, we are almost sure to meet the remaining 26 per cent easily by the end of this fiscal year.”

Last year’s collection on land revenues compared to the same time this year was just Rs 273.31 million, which is less by Rs 140 million. Moreover, the changes in the policies regarding disclosure of income source for transaction above Rs 10 million from previous Rs 5 million ceiling and facility for investors and Non Resident Nepalis, recovery of A-grade banks from their investments in the real estate, et cetera can be seen as the contributing factor for revival of the sector in recent months.

Dilip Neupane, vice president of the Realtors, says, “The transactions have indeed risen in last two months, but the reforms regarding house loan interest still needs to be brought forward as the investments done so far are on the small plots rather than bigger one. In addition to this, if someone had bought a piece of land at the rate of Rs 1.50 million per aana through bank loan, his cost has now been added by the bank interest and gone up to around Rs 1.80 million. Thus, this has resulted in the holding of the land by many such property owners, restricting the smooth flow of transactions.”

According to him, until the bank loan eases from its current 13 to 14 per cent and relieves such investors, the authentic appraisal of the sector is still unrealistic.

“People do not have confidence while investing in the realty as they are worried that their cash will be frozen once invested in these immobile assets. Thus, to continue this ongoing acceleration, it is very essential to revise these flaws.”

While the experts admit to the current acceleration in the realty sector, they are still sceptic about the longevity of the gained momentum. Nevertheless, if the trend continues, the realty — especially the land — could be a safe landing for the sector.

Source: THT

Revenue of life insurers goes up 25%

Life insurance companies have reported over 25 percent growth in business in the first quarter of the current fiscal year as number of agents selling their policies and awareness among people about the importance of life insurance coverage grew throughout the country, mainly rural areas. In the first quarter to mid-October 2011, nine life insurance companies generated revenue of Rs 2.67 billion by either selling new policies or renewing old ones, according to latest statistics provided by the Insurance Board (IB), the insurance sector regulator. This is an increment of 25.6 percent over last fiscal year´s Rs 10.44 billion earned by these companies. “The earnings of life insurers grew largely because life insurance companies added more agents to their companies to expand businesses,” Rameshwor Shrestha, chief finance officer of Nepal Life Insurance Company, the country´s largest life insurance company in terms of premium collection, told Republica. His company, which generated revenue of Rs 637.43 million in the first quarter, for instance, added around 4,000 agents to the company this fiscal year alone. “Most of these agents are working from rural areas from where we are getting largest chunk of customers,” Shrestha said, informing the company generates almost 50 percent of business from rural areas. Arjun Khadka, assistant manager of National Life Insurance, the country´s third largest life insurance company in terms of premium collection, had earlier told Republica that rural areas in districts like Lamjung, Gorkha, Makwanpur, Jumla and Okhaldhunga have started generating “good business” for insurance companies, as these places consist of families with members employed abroad. “These families, which have significant chunk of disposable income, have seen or heard of other policyholders getting bonuses at regular intervals and huge chunk of money after the policy matures,” he said, citing these attractions as one of the biggest pulling factors. The data provided by the IB shows that indemnity policies are still the most favored insurance policy among policyholders. In the first quarter this fiscal year, insurance companies generated income of Rs 1.28 billion by selling new or renewing old indemnity policies. Of the companies that sold these policies, Nepal Life Insurance topped the list generating a premium of Rs 378.85 million in the first quarter while the state-owned Rastriya Beema Sansthan became second largest seller of these policies accumulating income of Rs 190 million. Likewise, National Life Insurance became the third largest seller of these policies collecting a premium of Rs 187.77 million in the first quarter. Despite growing awareness about insurance products, less than 1.6 million people have been insured in the country so far, which is around six percent of the country´s total population of 26.62 million. Top 5 life insurers in terms of premium collection in Q1 1. Nepal Life Insurance - Rs 637.43 million 2. Life Insurance Corporation (Nepal) - Rs 499.62 million 3. National Life Insurance - Rs 428.61 million 4. MetLife Alico - Rs 331.59 million 5. Beema Sansthan - Rs 300 million Source: Republica

Inflow of remittance from Nepali workers in foreign countries shot up by 80.7 percent during the first three months of the current fiscal year, according to a central bank report released Sunday. Remittance growth in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year was 17.2 percent, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said.The big jump in remittance also helped boost the country's overall balance of payments (BOP) during the period pushing it into positive territory after a long time, the report said.

According to the quarterly report on the current macroeconomic situation of the country, Nepal's BoP recovered from a deficit of Rs. 5.6 billion recorded in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2007/08 to a surplus of Rs. 7.7 billion in the first three months of Fiscal Year 2008/09.

Similarly exports witnessed an upsurge of 27.1 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal year against a mere 4.3 percent rise in the corresponding period last year.NRB said that exports to both India and third countries swelled this year. It said exports to India during the period increased by 10.1 percent against a 0.6 percent rise recorded during the corresponding months last year. Likewise, exports to countries other than India swelled by 58.3 percent compared to an increase of 11.9 percent last year.

Exports to India increased due to a rise in export of readymade garments, shoes and sandals, polyester yarn, copper wire rods and G.I. pipes. An upsurge in export of pulses, woolen carpets, pashmina, herbs and tanned skin mainly contributed to an increase in overall exports to third countries.

Meanwhile the country imported 30.6 percent more in the first quarter this year. In the corresponding period last year, imports had gone up 13.1 percent.Imports from India went up 19.3 percent in the review period, compared to a 13.7 percent rise in the corresponding period last year.

NRB attributed the growth to rise in petroleum imports and higher import of vehicles and spare parts, cold rolled steel in coil, hot rolled sheet in coil and cement among other from India.On the other hand imports from other countries jumped 48.5 percent in the three months while it had grown just 12.1 percent during the corresponding period last year. NRB said higher inflow gold, MS billet, telecom equipment and parts, computers and related products, and polythene granules among others from these countries contributed to the big surge.

During the first three months of the current fiscal year, total government spending decreased by 2.4 percent to Rs. 29.3 billion compared to an increase of 53.7 percent in the corresponding period last year.
The government's failure to make both recurrent and capital expenditures at significant levels resulted in the decline of overall expenditures. Given the relatively huge size of the budget, spending money has remained a big challenge for the government.

Recurrent expenditures increased by 13.2 percent to Rs. 18.5 billion compared to an increase of 35.6 percent in the corresponding period last year. The government's budget deficit stood at Rs. 2.9 billion compared to a deficit of Rs. 9.4 billion in the corresponding period last year.

At the same time revenue collection saw an increase of 16 percent during the review period to Rs. 22.3 billion. The Ministry of Finance has said on Nov. 21 that revenue collection increased by 35.5 percent between mid-October and mid-November this year. It said Rs 32.97 billion had been collected in revenue in the first four months of this fiscal year. The government aims to increase revenue by 31.7 percent to meet its target of Rs. 142 billion, set for this year.

Domestic credit claims by non-financial government enterprises increased by 6.2 percent over the period compared to a decline of 17.3 percent in the corresponding period last year.Higher credit claims by government enterprises like Janakpur Cigarette Factory, Nepal Oil Corporation, Nepal Airlines Corporation, Janak Education Material Center and Nepal Electricity Authority contributed to the increase, NRB said.However, claims on government financial institutions declined by 6.7 percent in the review period. Meanwhile, overall domestic credit increased by 6.8 percent during the period against 6.9 percent recorded in the corresponding period last year.Gross foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs. 230.8 billion in mid-October, an increase of 8.5 percent compared to a decline of 4.1 percent in the corresponding period last year. The current level of reserves is adequate for financing merchandise imports for 10.1 months, and merchandise and service imports for eight months, according to NRB.