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Banda punch knocks out businesses
KATHMANDU, MAY 02 -
All industries and businesses throughout the country shut down on Sunday, the first day of the indefinite general strike called by the UCPN (Maoist) that is demanding a national consensus government led by it.
As efforts to reach a consensus by the three major political parties -- Maoists, Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN (UML) - failed till Saturday to reach any conclusion, the Maoists went ahead with their scheduled agitation. Exporters complained that they would not be able to export goods due to the prolonged general strike.
Raju Shrestha, managing director of Speedway Cargo, said that due to the strike he had not been able to dispatch even half of the goods that his company had received from exporters for immediate shipment.
At a time when the country needs a boost in exports to reduce the whopping Rs. 25.53 billion balance of payment (BoP) deficit in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, exports have been declining over the last few months. According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), exports went down by 8 percent against the growth of imports by 43.9 percent, causing a huge trade deficit of 61.2 percent.
Shankar Pandey, president of Nepal Pashmina Industries Association, said he had not received complaints from entrepreneurs facing problems in exporting yet, but they may complain within a few days if the strikes continued. Exporters had rushed to complete the export procedure when the Maoists announced the general strike for an indefinite period.
"We cannot complete everything within such a limited time," said Pandey. Exports of pashmina went down by 0.8 percent to Rs. 945.8 million during the first eight months of this fiscal year.
Former president of Handi-craft Association of Nepal (HAN) Pushkar Man Shakya said that they were having to think twice before accepting export orders as there always remained the risk that the goods might not be delivered. Garment Association of Nepal (GAN) officials also have been complaining that most of them are not getting new orders as they have failed to assure importers of timely delivery despite the interest of importers in Nepali garments.
Because of the banda, domestic delivery of goods has also been tough. The Maoists have allowed shops to open from 6-8 p.m. for emergency shopping. President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce Surendra Bir Malakar wondered how businessmen could manage goods if they fail to transport goods at their shops. "The existing stocks of goods in the capital is sufficient for just 15-20 days," he said. "There will be acute shortage of essentials if the strike continues."
However, entrepreneurs are hopeful that the parties will reach a consensus within a few days. Vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Pradeep Jung Pandey said that they expected the parties to reach a consensus within two-three days as the parties have reached an agreement on most of the contentious issues.
"The only outstanding issue is whether Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal should resign or not, and I think it will also be sorted out soon," he said. The business community has been trying to organise another round of talks between the three largest parties.
Posted on: 2010-05-03 08:58
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