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All quiet on the business front
- 2nd day of general strike
KATHMANDU, MAY 03 -
Factories, shops and transportation remained closed across the country on the second consecutive day of the general strike called by the UCPN (Maoist). With the agitators' warning the business community not to open factories and shops during the banda, no businessmen dared defy the directive.
There is pressure from the Maoist quarter to not open even the offices of district chambers, according to the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). Consequently, most of the district chambers remained closed.
However, an FNCCI source said that while the donation 'terror' unleashed by the Maoists still prevails it has eased somewhat over the recent days. Despite the Maoists providing brief relief by allowing shops to open between 6 to 8 pm in the evening, traders said it was meaningless to open shops as they have failed to transport essentials and there are no transport workers available for transportation in any case.
Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) has urged the agitating party to change the timing of the banda respite to morning hours as evening time is unpractical for the transportation of goods.
President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce Surendra Bir Malakar said that the Maoists are yet to listen to their plea.
Closure of BFIs
Most of the banks and financial institutions remained closed across the country on Monday too, citing the security situation. Most ATMs of banks and financial institutions also remained closed. Stone-throwing agitators broke a glass window of the branch office of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) in Butwal, according to RBB's chief executive officer Janardan Acharya. The Maoist cadres also padlocked the Birgunj branch of the RBB. Acharya said most of the RBB branches remained closed on Monday. "We have directed the branch managers to judge for themselves whether to open
on the basis of ground reality," he said.
Rajan Singh Bhandari, vice president of Nepal Bankers' Association, said the banks remained practically closed although they were open officially. Most of the ATMs also remained closed due to security concerns. "The ATMs that opened ran out of money as banks failed to bring money from the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) due to obstruction in vehicular movement," CEO of Citizens' Bank said.
Prithvi Bahadur Pandey, chief executive director of Nepal Investment Bank said that he opened the head
office and branches just for an hour due to security reasons and that there were no customers. "We opened the door only at some secure places," he said.
The Maoists have sent a letter to the banks and financial institutions telling them to cooperate in the general strike. President of Nepal Develo-pment Banks' Association (NDBA) Jhapat Bohora said that they received letters for both donation and closure of banks from the Maoists.
He said that both NDBA and Nepal Finance Companies' Association reached consensus to open their offices wherever it is secure but not at insecure places. This forced bank closure is another blow to the banking sector after the liquidity crisis.
NEPSE sees no trading
For the second consecutive day, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) saw no trading
on Monday as stockbrokers could not reach their offices. NEPSE officials said no brokers placed new orders for trading.
The capital market sees a transaction of Rs. 20 to 25 million a day. "The market has lost its income of Rs. 1 to 2 million a day," said Nanda Kishore Mundada, President of Nepal Stockbrokers' Association.
"An individual broker is losing around 0.8 percent of the total income of capital market each day," he added.
Derivative market opens
The derivate market that
deals with the transaction of metals and food items remained open on Monday although its rival capital market saw no transaction.
Dipendra Khatiwada, managing director of Mercantile Exchange Limited said that transaction has decreased due to the closure of banks and financial institutions. Transactions in the derivate market are made through the banking channel. "The transaction did not cease as it is made online," he said.
Posted on: 2010-05-04 09:33
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