KATHMANDU: President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Jin Liqun, has assured of a senior level representation from AIIB in the Nepal Investment Summit to be held in Kathmandu in March.

The Embassy of Nepal in Beijing informed that Liqun has assured that AIIB would also continue to lend its support to Nepal’s development endeavors.

According to RSS, Liqun gave the assurances during his meeting with Chief Executive Officer of Investment Board of Nepal, Maha Prasad Adhikari, in Beijing on Tuesday.

CEO Adhikari, during a meeting with Liqan, informed him about the Summit expressing the confidence that AIIB’s support would be crucial in Nepal’s socio-economic development.

The AIIB President is also learnt to have pledged funding for the projects forwarded by the Nepal government. CEO Adhikari is in Beijing to participate in Pre-Investment Conference organized by Embassy of Nepal in China.

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli asked banks not to impose interest rate arbitrarily in a meeting with FNCCI delegation today.
The PM also urged the investors to investment on productive sectors to contribute to national economy. He suggested that agriculture sector should  be encouraged. The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister, Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada and Nepal Rastra Bank Governor, Dr Chiranjivi Nepal. The entrepreneurs had  expressed their concern regarding investment climate. It is not good that banks float loan on one condition and impose interest arbitrarily,” the PM said, adding that government was always ready to solve the problems facing industrialists and entrepreneurs.

BIRATNAGAR: The industrialists and traders in Biratnagar have asked the government to immediately reduce the high interest rate charged by the bank and financial institutions (BFIs) on the borrowers. They argued that the interest rate should be around seven percent for the production-based industries and up to nine percent of the trading firms.
At a program jointly organized by Industry Association Morang and Trade Association Morang on Thursday, the business leaders drew attention of the government to that end adding that job creation of the labor force of 500,000 was not likely only from the industry and trade sectors. Stressing the need for slashing the interest rate, they also argued the central bank should realize the reality that no bank was running out of loss. The industrialists and businesspersons said that industries and business should flourish to reduce the trade deficit, strengthen the economy and create more job opportunities.
Industrialists Bhim Ghimire, Pawan Kumar Sharda, Sushen Pyakurel, Moti Dugad and others said that the bank’s interest rate should be low to increase the domestic investment and lure the foreign investment.

Kathmandu: Minister for Finance, Dr Yubraj Khatiwada, has urged leaders of agriculture cooperative institutions to reduce production cost by increasing competitive capacity of agro products.
At the 11th annual general assembly of the Nepal Agricultural Co-operatives Central Federation Limited, Finance Minister Khatiwada said that domestic products could compete with imported goods of agriculture only if cost of agro products could be reduced.
He clarified that there was no situation of imposing customs tax rather than five per cent in agro products. Saying the government has the policy to be self-dependent on basic food grains within next five years, the Finance Minister insisted that government, cooperatives and private sector would move ahead for the same.
He said, “They have not been able to attract micro insurance companies in agro and livestock sectors. The government will support the insurance companies involved in this sector. I urge the Nepal Agricultural Co-Operatives Central Federation to lead this.
The Finance Minister expressed the belief that the insurance the insurance programme would reduce financial risk of agro products.
On the occasion, Dipen Chepang (Makawanpur), Sabara Khatun (Bara), Pabita Devi Musahar (Dhanusha), madan Singh Raute (Dadeldhura), Dinesh Saha (Siraha), Chabbilal Khadka (Surkhet) and Saroj Nepal (Morang) were honoured with Rs 5000 for their remarkable contribution in agro sector.
Likewise, Dipa Rana (Surkhet), Dip Narayan Purbe (Dhanusha) and Chiranjivi Bhandari (Jhapa) were honoured as the best manager. Around 0ne million farmers of 995 cooperatives of 71 districts are associated with the Federation and invested around Rs 45 billion in agro sector.

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Banks Association (Perbanas) has said that 50 to 70 banks are sufficient to ensure healthy competition between lenders in the Indonesian market.

According to the Indonesian Banking Statistics (SPI), there were 115 banks in the country in November 2018.

Perbanas chairman Kartika Wirjoatmodjo said on Monday that the interbank war of interest rates indicated tough competition among the banks in trying to obtain third-party funds.

“The competition for third-party funds is not in balance among the banks; the ideal number of banks is only 50 to 70,” said Kartika as quoted by kompas.com, adding that certain banks needed to carry out consolidation as a step toward merger.

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has been considering issuing a regulation encouraging small banks to merge.

Meanwhile, under OJK Regulation No. 39 of 2017 on the ownership of shares in the banking industry, major investors can only hold shares in one bank.

“Large-scale banks need to carry out acquisitions and mergers. We see that as a positive move. It could be an incentive for large banks to acquire other banks to cut the number of banks in Indonesia,” Kartika added.

(Agencies)

KENYA: Kenya’s banking sector credit risk is easing but lenders should be careful not to engage in reckless lending, the governor of the central bank said on Tuesday.

Bad debts among Kenyan banks jumped to 12.4 percent of total credits last year, the highest level in more than a decade.

Patrick Njoroge told a news conference that Kenya’s economic growth was likely to rise to 6.3 percent this year from an estimated 6.1 percent in 2018, driven by robust expansion in the agriculture sector.

(Agencies)

RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the United Arab Emirates Central Bank (UAECB) clarified that one of the objectives of launching the common digital currency project “Aber” is for use in financial settlements between Saudi Arabia and UAE through Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers technologies, according to aawsat.com.

In a joint statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, they explained that this is part of the “Proof-of- concept” framework that can be summed up in closely understanding and studying the dimensions of modern technologies and their feasibility through practical application and the determination of their impact on the improvement and the reduction of remittances costs and the assessment of technical risks and how to deal with them.

This is in addition to the qualification of cadres that will deal with the technologies of the future and understanding the requirements of issuing a digital currency for use by the two countries, the report said.

Furthermore, it will establish an additional means for the central financial transfer systems of the two countries and enable banks to directly deal with each other in conducting financial remittances.

‏Regarding the joint launching of the project, the statement pointed out that central banks in some countries have already started pilot projects to explore the dimensions of Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers technologies applied in circulation of digital currencies.

SAMA and the Central Bank of UAE share the same desire to launch pilot projects in the use of these technologies to identify them and learn how to benefit from them.

The statement attributed the agreement to launch this project jointly rather than independently in each country to the fact that the two countries have in place central systems for remittances and domestic transactions which have evolved overtime and proved their feasibility.

According to the statement, SAMA and UAECB hope that their pilot projects will benefit everyone locally and internationally. Based on this desire, the two countries do not only aspire to be the forerunners in the application of modern technologies, but also in their adaptation, development and delivery to the world. Hence, the two countries embarked on carrying out the experiment of issuing a common digital currency for use across borders to carry out remittances, it added.

As for the mechanism agreed upon by SAMA and UAECB for the implementation of “Aber” project, the statement emphasized that efforts in the initial stages will focus on technical aspects. The use of the currency will be restricted to a limited number of banks in each state. In case that no technical obstacles are encountered, economic and legal requirements for future uses will be considered.

(Agencies)

SWITZERLAND: Board of Directors of VP Bank Group and CEO Alfred W. Moeckli have decided to not continue their collaboration. Alfred W. Moeckli will relinquish all his functions by 31 January 2019 and leave the bank to devote himself to new assignments. Urs Monstein assumes the position of CEO on an interim basis, according to Investment Europe.

Moeckli has presided over the Group Executive Management of VP Bank Group since 2013 and has developed VP Bank substantially as chief executive officer in the last approximately six years. Especially in the time following the financial crisis, he has made a key contribution to leading the banking institute back onto a growth path, it said.

The dissolution of the employment relationship between VP Bank and W. Moeckli takes place by mutual consent as part of an early age-related succession planning. The Board of Directors thanks Alfred W. Moeckli for his services and his major commitment, according to Investment Europe.

Fredy Vogt, chairman of the Board of Directors of VP Bank Group, takes stock: “W. Moeckli has contributed significantly to a successful positioning of VP Bank in the changed environment of the financial services industry and has increased profitability. Additionally, in his time as CEO, the market capitalisation of our bank has approximately doubled”.

Monstein, who has been chief operating oficer of VP Bank since May 2018, will assume leadership of the Group Executive Management on an interim basis with immediate effect.

The search process for a successor to the departing CEO has already been launched. Both internal and external candidates are being evaluated.

(Agencies)