STUDENTS CONTINU PROTESTS AGAINST PRICE RISE

STUDENTS TO CONTINUE PROTESTS AGAINST HIKE IN PRICES

Kathmandu, 26 Jan.; Thirteen student unions Thursday disrupted movement of government vehicles in front of campuses in the three districts of
the Valley opposing last week’s massive hike in prices of POL
products.
Student representatives are meeting Thursday to discuss Singha
Durbar-centered protests to continue their anti-government nation-wide agitation.
n
MAOISTS, FRONT TO BOLSTER ALLIANCE
Kathmandu, 26 Jan.:, The ruling coalition partners, UCPN-Maoist and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), Wednesday agreed to bolster their alliance at a time when the opposition parties had been obstructing the parliamentary proceedings, protesting some cabinet decisions, mainly the legalization of land deals made by ‘people’s revolutionary council’ during the decade-long armed conflict, The Rising Nepal reports
The ruling parties decided to hold discussions on Thursday morning with the opposition parties Nepali Congress and CPN-UML on House obstruction, according to Information and Communication Minister Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta. The leaders would review price hike of petroleum products, he said, adding, that the Thursday’s cabinet meeting would decide on the matter while also calling a meeting of the Army Integration Special Committee to push the peace process ahead.
They made these agreements at a meeting held at the official residence of Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai at Baluwatar.
"The meeting was held between the Maoist chairman and chiefs of the parties of the UDMF in the presence of the Prime Minister. It dwelt seriously on the issues related to the House obstruction, price hike of PoL products and accelerating the peace process," Minister for Information and Communications Gupta, who is also the chairman of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Republic), informed the reporters after the meeting in the evening.
He said that the ruling parties agreed to do homework on reviewing the price hike of the petro-products in the light of financial status of the country and take appropriate decisions by a Cabinet meeting to be held on Thursday.
"In the context of House obstruction, we agreed to strike harmony with the parties representing in the Parliament and for this we will hold talks with parties like Nepali Congress and CPN-UML tomorrow in order to find a solution," Minister Gupta said.

He said that the ruling parties agreed to do homework for calling the AISC meeting Thursday and take decisions related to accelerating of the peace process.
"We concluded that both the sides (the Maoist and the UDMF) should get still more together and unified so as to held discussions with the other sides (opposition parties) and find solutions to problems," Minister Gupta said.
Nnnn

GOVT. PROJECTS 5% ECONOIC GROWTH
Kathmandu, 26 Jan. : The government has estimated that the country’s economy will post a growth of five per cent for the current fiscal year, Laxman Kafle writes in The Rising Nepal..
The government has projected five per cent economic growth in the productive price and 4.5 per cent in the basic price on the basis of the mid-term review of the annual budget of the current fiscal year, said Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun, while addressing a press conference organized by the Ministry to inform about the mid-term review of budget of the current fiscal year.
Similarly, the inflation is estimated at 7 to 8 per cent over the current fiscal year.
"The average inflation has come down to 8.2 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal year from 9 per cent of the corresponding period of last year," Minister Pun said.
The deposit mobilisation of the banks and financial institutions has increased by 9 per cent during the review period.
The liquidity of the banks and financial institutions has increased by 18 per cent to Rs. 296.72 billion by the end of Mangsir as compared to the end of Asar.
Similarly, export of the country has increased by 11.5 per cent to Rs.30.6 billion while the import has increased by 15.5 per cent to Rs. 177.79 billion during the first five months of the current fiscal year.
The trade deficit has increased by 16.3 per cent to Rs. 147.73 billion and the balance of payment stood at surplus of about Rs. 61.19 billion.
The foreign reserve stood at Rs. 368.63 billion surplus during the five months of the current fiscal year.
"The foreign currency reserve will cover good import for 10.6 months and good and service import for 9.3 months," the Finance Minister said.
Similarly, the expenditure during the review period stood at Rs. 111.13 billion.
The government has spent around Rs. 89.63 billion under the current expenditure, Rs. 9.56 billion under the capital expenditure and Rs.11.92 billion under financial management.
Similarly, export of the country has increased by 11.5 per cent to Rs.30.6 billion while the import has increased by 15.5 per cent to Rs. 177.79 billion during the first five months of the current fiscal year.
The trade deficit has increased by 16.3 per cent to Rs. 147.73 billion and the balance of payment stood at surplus of about Rs. 61.19 billion.
The foreign reserve stood at Rs. 368.63 billion surplus during the five months of the current fiscal year.
"The foreign currency reserve will cover good import for 10.6 months and good and service import for 9.3 months," the Finance Minister said.
Similarly, the expenditure during the review period stood at Rs. 111.13 billion.
The government has spent around Rs. 89.63 billion under the current expenditure, Rs. 9.56 billion under the capital expenditure and Rs.11.92 billion under financial management.
According to Minister Pun, these figures in the above order account for 33.62 per cent, 13.17 per cent and 26.11 per cent of the allocated budget.
The capital expenditure significantly improved and increased by 13.17 per cent during the first six months of the current fiscal year as compared to the expenditure of the past three years.
The capital expenditure increased by 8.23 per cent, 9.16 per cent and 6.22 per cent during the fiscal year 2065/66, 2066/67 and 2067/67 respectively.
The government has projected that the capital expenditure and current expenditure would be over 90 per cent over the year.
The government has succeeded to collect around Rs. 111.3 billion revenue during the first six months of the current fiscal year against the targeted revenue of Rs.241.77 billion of the current fiscal year.
The revenue collection of the government stood at 98.32 per cent of the total target and increased by 21.57 per cent during the review period of the current fiscal year as compared to same period last year.
During the review period, the government has received around Rs.7 billion domestic loan against the target of Rs. 37.41 billion of the whole fiscal year.
According to Minister Pun, during the period the government received foreign assistance commitment of Rs. 44.25 billion.

He said that macroeconomic indicators were positive in the first six months of the current fiscal year.
He further said that the government has committed to increase the capital expenditure in the coming days to achieve the economic growth and targets of the budget.
Pun said that the current expenditure has slightly decreased during the review period due to the implementation of the economic directives of the government.
He assured that the economic growth of the country would increase in the coming months as almost all economic indicators were moving towards the positive direction.
Pun said that the government has focused on attracting the foreign and domestic investment along with concluding the peace process of the country.
He said, "We need around Rs.600 billion investment to achieve the double digit economic growth."
He also said that the government was planning to introduce economic packages for increasing the capital expenditure.
Highlighting the increment observed in the agricultural production, he said that the increase in agricultural production significantly contributed to achieving the economic growth targeted by the budget.
Krishna Hari Baskota, secretary at the Ministry of Finance, stressed the need of mega projects to increase the capital expenditure.
He pointed out the need of bringing the budget in time and use of effective technologies to achieve the target of the budget.
Dr.Yubaraj Khatiwada, governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), said that the price hike of the non-food items has led to a rise to the inflation.
He said, "The inflation will be less than 7 per cent if the price of non-food items in the country."
nnnn