Eurozone economy heads for decade-high growth Page II While Britain and the rest of the EU are struggling to agree on divorce terms, it’s increasingly clear that on the economic front they are diverging sharply.

Ins IdeGold edges up, hovers near one-year highGold prices edged up on Tuesday, hovering around their highest levels in nearly a year, as North Korea’s most powerful nuclear test to date underpinned haven demand for the precious metal. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,335.36 per ounce as of 0700 GMT after touching its strong-est since late September in the previous session. US gold futures for December delivery were up 0.8 percent at $1,340.80. Pg: II

‘Angry Birds’ maker Rovio plans IPOThe maker of hit mobile phone game “Angry Birds” is planning an ini-tial public offering to raise around 30 million euros ($36 million) and potentially use its shares to make acquisitions. Finland’s Rovio Entertainment Ltd said on Tuesday that existing shareholders, which include the uncle of the company’s co-founder as well as venture capital firms Accel Partners and Atomico, would also sell some shares, though it gave no details. It declined too to put an estimated value on the company, which some traders have said could be a high as $2 billion. Pg: II

STC imports 25k tonnes of sugar for festivalsState-owned Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has imported 25,000 tonnes of sugar from India in a bid to regulate market prices and ensure smooth sup-ply during the upcoming festive season. The ship-ment amounts to half of the 50,000 tonnes of sugar that STC plans to import by November. Amoj Lamichhane, chief of the company’s Birgunj office, said the imported sugar had already been dis-patched to regions with high demand. Pg: III

Australia’s Commonwealth Bank slapped with lawsuitCommonwealth Bank of Australia was hit on Tuesday with potentially Australia’s biggest class-action lawsuit over a money-laundering scan-dal that has already smashed its share price and exposed it to billions of dollars in fines. Litigation financier IMF Bentham Ltd said it would fund the lawsuit against Australia’s big-gest bank, accusing it of making false and mislead-ing statements and failing to disclose breaches of anti-money laundering rules for years. Pg: III

Festive offers to encourage buyingIt’s that time of the year where automobile compa-nies in Nepal are offering their festive offers to cele-brate two of Nepal’s big-gest festivals, Dashain and Tihar. These offers are so effective that most companies make up the bulk of their yearly sales during this period. People are ready to spend money during festivals and com-panies are looking to cap-italise with exciting offers and schemes. The best offers are usually reserved for the festive period of Dashain and Tihar. Pg: IV

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 (21-05-2074) kathmandupost.ekantipur.com

moneymoneyfinance&economyfinance&economy

kathmandupostthecross currency

US Dollar 102.90

Euro 122.31

Pound Sterling 133.31

Japanese Yen 0.94

Chinese Yuan 15.71

Qatari Riyal 27.93

Australian Dollar 82.01

Malaysian Ringit 24.02

Saudi Arab Riyal 27.44How to read tHe tableThe chart shows the rates of nine world currencies. Move across the table to find rates of exchange between any two currencies. One unit of the currency mentioned horizontally is worth that amount in the currency mentioned vertically.

USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD INR NR

NR 102.9000 122.3100 0.9410 133.3100 107.1600 83.0300 82.0100 1.6015

INR 64.1225 76.2220 0.5863 83.1250 66.5600 51.7683 50.9460 0.6244

GBP 0.7715 0.9176 0.0071 0.8030 0.6227 0.6150 0.0120 0.0075

JPY 109.3500 130.0200 140.8451 113.8900 88.2400 87.1400 1.7058 1.0627

EUR 0.8410 0.0077 1.0898 0.8759 0.6786 0.6705 0.0131 0.0082

USD 1.1891 0.0091 1.2962 1.0422 0.8069 0.7969 0.0156 0.0097

F o r e X

Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank

balloon ride

n Hot air balloons glide during a flight over Nevsehir in Turkey’s historical Cappadocia region, Central Anatolia, eastern Turkey, on Tuesday. The rides by hot air balloon start in the morning as the balloons cannot fly at temperatures over 28 degrees Celsius and during extreme windy conditions. Cappadocia is one of the most famous tourist sites in Turkey and has been listed as a World Heritage Site in 1985. AFP/RSS

C M Y K

MADHAV DHUNGANA BHAIRAHAWA, SEPT 5

The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has decided to launch a formal inves-tigation into delays in the upgra-dation of airport project in Bhairahawa as uncertainty over completion of the project within the extended deadline looms large. The project completion deadline has already been extended twice.

The airport in Bhairahawa, gateway to Lumbini is being upgraded to an international airport.

More than three dozen of law-makers of the PAC have flown to Bhairahawa to hold public hear-ings and question the concerned officials and contractors over the delays. Tourism Minister Jitendra Narayan Dev, however, skipped the public hearings.

“The project is facing a big problem. It needs a serious inves-tigation from the beginning,” said lawmaker and former Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel. He directed the project to pre-pare the White Paper on the state of the project and submit it to the PAC within 15 days. Poudel said that all the stakeholders of the project, including the con-tractor, needs to be summoned at the PAC meeting to clarify wheth-er the project could move ahead.

The airport was originally slated to be ready in December 2017. However, shortages of fuel and building materials due to a Tarai banda in 2015 delayed works by six months. The opera-tion deadline was pushed to June, 2018. The project had to face another setback in March after a dispute aroused over pay-ments between the contractor and an illegally appointed

sub-contractor that brought the project’s progress to a halt. Now, the project completion deadline has been pushed back to 2019.

The dispute over payments between the Chinese contractor Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group and the Nepali sub-contractor Northwest Infra Nepal has stalled works at the construction site, achieving not even 1 percent of the month-ly progress in the past six months. By the third week of July, the project had achieved a meagre 26 percent physical pro-gress. The dispute is yet to be resolved. The sub-contractor is headed by former PM Jhala Nath Khanal’s son Nirvik.

“We have been listening that the contractor of the project had submitted fake documents to bag the project. A detailed probe needs to be carried out. And if it’s true, all stakeholder involved

in the project will face action,” said Poudel.

Rajan Pokhrel, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan), said that the Chinese company has performed poorly. The contractor has been issued several “notice to correct”. “Now, we have given a certain days for the contractor to improve its performance. If it fails to deliver, Caan will initiate process to breach the contract.”

PAC Chairman Dor Prasad Upadhyay said they have decided to hold another meeting at the Capital and would issue appro-priate orders to the concerned ministry and project.

Recently, the project funded by the Asian Development Bank had hired international contract management experts to analyze the risk of terminating the contract with the non-perform-ing firm.

PAC to open formal probe into delaysguata m bu d d H a i n t ’ l a i r p o rt p roj ect

IBN to call for bids to build urea plant

POST REPORTKATHMANDU, SEPT 5

Investment Board Nepal (IBN) is preparing to call for global tenders to build a urea fertiliz-er plant under the public-pri-vate partnership model in Dhalkebar, Dhanusha in southeastern Nepal

According to well placed sources at IBN, the board has been working on the bidding documents in close coopera-tion with a high-level commit-tee formed to recommend an appropriate modality to set up the factory.

IBN created the eight-mem-ber panel last August under the leadership of a member of the National Planning Commission (NPC) to recom-mend development modalities and advise the board if the government would need to provide viability gap funding to set up the fertiliser plant.

“We are planning to com-plete the preparations and call for global tenders within a couple of months,” said the source. “However, things will depend on how quickly the committee presents its recom-mendations.”

Currently, the committee is reviewing the detailed feasi-bility report for the fertiliser plant which was prepared by a consortium of consulting firms and approved by IBN.

The board had appointed a group consisting of Infrastructure Development Corporation and Institution of Agricultural Technologists of India and Shah Consult International of Nepal to pre-pare the report.

The feasibility report has pointed out the possibility of using three types of energy sources to produce urea fertil-iser: natural gas, electrolysis and coal.

It has recommended using natural gas to produce urea due to lower establishment and production costs. According to the report, it will

cost $1.3 billion to install a coal-based plant, $983 million to install an electrolysis-based plant and $665 million for a natural gas-based plant.

Likewise, the per tonne pro-duction cost of a natural gas-based plant will be $268 while the per tonne production costs of electrolysis- and coal-based plants will be $448 and $372 respectively.

The feasibility study has also revealed that a natural gas-based plant will consume 1,197 tonnes of natural gas daily, and recommended building a pipeline to ensure uninterrupted supply from any one of three Indian cities: Jagdishpur, Gorakhpur or Gaya. In order to import gas from Jagdishpur, the project will need to lay a 684-km pipe-line.

The pipelines connecting Gorakhpur and Gaya will be 365 km and 300 km long respectively.

The feasibility report has recommended providing financial incentives to the developer such as 30 percent grant financing, excise duty exemption and a three-year tax moratorium.

The committee will also need to recommend to the gov-ernment whether it should provide the developer a grant as viability gap funding as suggested by the consultants in the report.

“The bidding documents will be prepared after the com-mittee selects the appropriate options for the construction of the plant based on the rec-ommendations made by the consultant,” said the source.

The feasibility report has pointed out the possibility

of using three types of energy sources to produce urea fertiliser: natural gas,

electrolysis and coal

Disbursement of credit deemed ‘risky’ surgesRUPAK D SHARMAKATHMANDU, SEPT 5

The exposure of commercial banks to overdraft, a loan product considered highly risky by the banking sector regulator, is increasing rapid-ly, with the credit making a contribution of as high as 37 percent to the total loan port-folio of a bank.

This has raised the eye-brows of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the banking sec-tor regulator, as it believes a big portion of overdraft is used for speculative purposes in real estate and stock market. This tends to heat up asset prices and stoke inflation.

Commercial banks were sit-ting on overdraft portfolio of Rs310.5 billion at the end of fiscal year 2016-17, which con-cluded on July 15, show the latest central bank data. This portfolio was 29.4 percent big-ger than in 2015-16. This growth was witnessed after commercial banks extended Rs70.5 billion in overdraft in

2016-17. This means more than a fifth of the total overdraft was disbursed in 2016-17 alone.

The NRB has previously expressed displeasure over the surge in loan products such as overdraft. Its monthly Macroeconomic Report pub-lished in January said: “Credit excesses in risky areas could divert bank credit from productive sectors.”

Overdrafts are credit lines extended by banks to busi-nesses and individuals. Once the credit lines are offered, borrowers can use the loan amount whenever they want, albeit they have to be renewed once a year in most of the cases.

Businesses, in theory, use overdraft to manage cash flow and working capital. Banks can extend as much overdraft to businesses depending on their credit policy.

However, banks are barred from issuing overdraft in excess of Rs7.5 million to indi-viduals.

The banking sector regula-tor fixed a cap on overdraft for individuals after borrowers started using the credit to bet on assets such as real state and equities.

But lately, the regulator has started suspecting that a big chunk of overdraft issued to businesses is also being used for speculative purposes.

“To curb misuse of loan, we

have recently directed banks to make it mandatory for bor-rowers [businesses] to specify the purpose for which over-draft is being obtained,” NRB Deputy Spokesperson Rajendra Pandit said. The instruction was issued after businesses kept banks in the dark about the use of overdraft.

This lax oversight has prompted some of the com-mercial banks to issue more than a third of the total loan as overdraft. The exposure of Bank of Kathmandu to over-draft, for instance, stood at 37.3 percent of the total credit portfolio at the end of 2016-17. A year ago, the share stood at 27.3 percent.

The newly appointed CEO of Bank of Kathmandu, Shovan Dev Pant, said: “I hav-en’t been able to go through all the data, as I am currently focusing on strengthening the governance of the bank. I’ll look into this problem and see what action needs to be taken.”

Another bank with big

exposure to overdraft is Mega Bank.

Around 33.4 percent of the total loan issued by the bank was in the form of overdraft at the end of 2016-17. Next in line is NCC Bank (28.6 per-cent), followed by Global IME Bank (27.7 percent) and Kumari Bank (27.4 percent).

“The growth in overdraft should not sound alarm bells, as a big portion of these loans has been provided to business-es looking for quick flow of working capital and cash to manage day-to-day works,” Mega Bank CEO Anil Keshary Shah said. “Also, these loans are not unsecured.”

Yet the downside of greater exposure to overdraft is the strain it puts on liquidity, as chances of borrowers using the entire credit line in one go cannot be ruled out. If this drawdown is not matched by adequate flow of deposits, banks may face asset-liability mismatch, leaving them with very little or no cash to dis-burse fresh loans or reim-burse depositors.

Regulator suspects overdraft issued to businesses is also used for speculative purposeshigheSt exPoSuRe to oveRdRAFt

Bank of Kathmandu 37.3%Mega 33.4%NCC 28.6% Global IME 27.7%Kumari 27.4%

loweSt exPoSuRe to oveRdRAFt

*Figures represent share of overdraft in total loans Source: NRB

Nepal SBI 1.7%NMB 4.8%Standard Chartered 6.4%Agricultural Development 6.9%Laxmi 8.1%

moneyworld IIWednesday, September 6, 2017 | the kathmandu post

C M Y K

national icon

n A young married couple poses for souvenir pictures at Trocadero Plaza as the top of the Eiffel Tower is surrounded by clouds, in Paris on Tuesday. Tourism in Paris is a major income source for Paris and the city ranks in the world’s most visited cities. Nearly 7 million people visit the Eiffel Tower every year. AFP/RSS

Rockwell Collins sold for $30bWASHINGTON: US-based industrial conglomerate United Technologies announced on Monday it had reached an agree-ment to buy aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins for $30 billion, including debt. “This acquisition adds tremen-dous capabilities to our aerospace businesses and strengthens our complementary offerings of technologically advanced aerospace sys-tems,” said UTC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Greg Hayes. “Together, Rockwell Collins and UTC Aerospace Systems will enhance customer value in a rapidly evolving aerospace industry by making air-craft more intelligent and more connected.” United Technologies (UTC) will offer $140 per share Rockwell Collins, or $23 billion to which will be added the debt recovery. (AFP)

Lego to cut 1,400 jobs after sales dropCOPENHAGEN: Danish toy maker Lego will cut 1,400 jobs, or about eight per-cent of its global work-force, after reporting a decline in sales and prof-its in the first half of 2017. The privately held company said Tuesday that its revenue dropped 5 percent to 14.9 billion kroner ($2.4 billion) in the first six months of the year, mainly as a result of weakness in established markets like the US and Europe. Profits slipped 3 percent to 3.4 billion kroner ($544,000). It said it “now prepares to reset the company.” “We are disap-pointed by the decline in revenue in our estab-lished markets, and we have taken steps to address this,” said Chairman Joergen Vig Knudstorp. He said the long-term aim is to reach “more children in our well-established mar-kets in Europe and the United States,” and added there were “strong growth opportunities in growing markets such as China.” (AP)

Schneider Electric to buy UK’s AvevaPARIS: French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric said Tuesday it has agreed to combine its industrial software activities with British firm Aveva in the third attempt to merge the two companies in as many years. Schneider Electric said in a state-ment it will take a 60-per-cent stake in the com-bined entity, with exist-ing Aveva shareholders to receive £650 million (707 million euros, $840 million) in cash or 1,014 pence per Aveva share. “The directors of Schneider Electric and Aveva believe that there is a clear and compelling business logic and strate-gic rationale” for the tie-up, the statement said. “The combined entity will be a global leader in engineering and indus-trial software, with scale and relevance in key markets,” Schneider Electric argued. (AFP)

news digest

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE QUERÉTARO (MExicO), SEpT 5

Arturo Avila toiled and suffered to build his Mexican start-up into a thriving aerospace company—and the last thing he’s going to do now is lose sleep over Donald Trump’s Nafta threats.

Avila is the founder of Altaser Aerospace, one of more than 300 companies that make up Mexico’s small but booming aerospace sec-tor, which has grown 179 percent since 2009 to become a $19-billion industry.

These companies, which pro-vide some of the millions of highly specialised parts that go into every commercial airplane, have thrived under the North American Free Trade Agreement—the 23-year-old deal the United States, Mexico and

Canada are trying to revamp this week in Mexico City, at Trump’s behest.

Last year, Mexico’s aerospace industry exported more than $7 billion in parts—nearly triple the $2.5 billion it exported in 2009.

It has not been easy breaking into the highly demanding sector, known for white-knuckle dead-lines, complex technology and intense global competition.

Avila still remembers how hard it was to get a foothold. He recalls details like the sympathet-ic smile on one Bombardier exec-utive’s face when the aerospace giant rejected his bid to become its supplier.

The Canadian multinational told him he would need to have far more sales history, and a solid client portfolio.

“I suffered for the first three

years,” said Avila, 51.“You have to be humble, very

humble, to understand that it’s a tough industry. You have to win their trust,” he told AFP.

Today, he has a thriving medi-um-sized business in the state of Chihuahua, on the US border, specialised in making parts for

airplane wings.It has orders booked through

2034, and will soon employ a total of 500 people when it opens a new factory in the city of Hermosillo, in the neighboring state of Sonora.

His clients include such US giants as General Electric and

Spirit Aerosystems.Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed

Martin, BAE Systems, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman: all the world’s largest aerospace and defense companies source parts in Mexico.

Given Nafta’s central role in creating this boom, Avila and his fellow entrepreneurs might be expected to be nervous over the American president’s repeated threats to “terminate” it.

But at the Mexico Aerospace Summit—held in the aeronautics hub of Queretaro just before the latest Nafta talks opened—Mexican executives said they had more pressing concerns.

“It’s not something we’re los-ing sleep over,” said Avila.

Mexico exported 81.3 percent of its aerospace products to the United States in 2015, and 6.6 per-

cent to Canada. The two coun-tries accounted for 81 percent of the $2.1 billion in foreign invest-ment in the sector from 1999 to 2015. But Mexican executives say they are confident the industry is so globalised, with such compli-cated and deeply integrated sup-ply chains, that even if Trump pulls out of Nafta, he can’t staunch demand for their prod-ucts.

The main reason is that their prices are so competitive, with or without tariffs: Mexican factory workers make an average $2.30 an hour, about one-tenth the average US factory wage.

And demand keeps growing.“The current supply chains are

maxed out, so there’s opportunity for suppliers who have the know-how,” said Xavier Hurtado of the Mexican Aerospace Industry

Federation.The makers of the jet bodies,

wiring, cables and myriad other plane parts that Mexico produces say they are more worried about competition from Asia than keep-ing American clients.

“We need to take action and improve” in areas like best prac-tices, standardised processes and meeting commitments “rather than worry about something as abstract as Nafta,” said Hurtado.

European planemaker Airbus’s director of procurement for North America, Ruben Tauste, said Mexican entrepreneurs and the government should be less worried about Nafta than things like investing more in research and development and breaking into more high-tech segments such as engines and flight control systems.

Mexico’s booming aerospace industry not sweating Naftat h r I v I n g bus I n ess

n A train is pictured delivering Boeing 737 fuselages in Washington. REUTERS

Eurozone economy heads for decade-high growthASSOCIATED PRESSLONDON, SEpT 5

While Britain and the rest of the EU are struggling to agree on divorce terms, it’s increas-ingly clear that on the eco-nomic front they are diverg-ing sharply.

In closely watched surveys of economic activity, financial information company IHS Markit said on Tuesday that the economy of the 19 EU countries that use the euro is heading for decade-high growth rates while Britain’s is increasingly sluggish — large-ly due to uncertainty sur-rounding Brexit.

The purchasing managers’ index, a broad gauge of eco-nomic activity, for the euro-zone was unchanged at 55.7 points in August. The index is on a 100-point scale, with any-thing above 50 indicating expansion.

Though output growth in the third quarter is slightly down on the second quarter, the firm said the single cur-rency bloc is on course for economic growth of 2.1 per-cent this year, its highest since 2007, when the global financial crisis started to bite.

The firm’s chief business economist, Chris Williamson, said the moderate growth slowdown from the second quarter is no cause for alarm given that business orders remain strong.

“There’s good reason to be optimistic that the current spurt growth has further to run,” he said.

The scale of the eurozone recovery this year has caught many economists by surprise. At the year’s start, many feared that the region, already disturbed by Britain’s vote last year to leave the European Union, ongoing concerns over the euro and a slew of key elections, would face a diffi-cult time.

Though uncertainty over Brexit remains, the Greek cri-sis seems contained and popu-list politicians failed to make the breakthrough many econ-omists feared during those elections, notably in France.

One of the main arguments made during last year’s Brexit referendum in Britain was about how the UK econo-my would be better off unshackled from a region that had battled one crisis after another for years.

While that will be determined in the longer-term, for now it’s clear that Britain’s economy is starting to suffer from the Brexit vote.

In the first few months after the vote, it held up better than anticipated, partly because of the pound’s export-boosting 15 percent fall.

In a separate survey, IHS Markit said the British econo-my appears increasingly slug-

gish as the uncertainty over the EU exit mounts. In March, Prime Minister Theresa May triggered the two-year Brexit timetable but discussions between her government and the EU on what Brexit actual-ly will mean have made little apparent headway.

And that uncertainty over the Brexit details is weighing on the British economy, as evidenced by the fact that the country is this year the slowest-growing in the Group of Seven developed economies.

IHS Markit’s survey sug-gested that the slowdown, par-ticularly in the crucial servic-es sector, could be getting more marked.

It said the pace of growth in the services sector, which accounts for around 80 per-cent of the British economy, eased to its lowest level since September last year.

Its purchasing managers’ index for the sector fell to 53.2 points in August from 53.8 the previous month amid signs that “Brexit-related uncer-tainty continued to under-mine business confidence.”

In the immediate aftermath of the June 2016 vote to leave the European Union, the ser-vices sector held up. There’s been a raft of evidence recent-ly showing a Brexit hit.

“The overall level of opti-mism also remained subdued, mainly linked to Brexit uncer-tainty, close to levels that have previously been indicative of the economy stalling or even contracting,” Williamson warned of the latest survey reading.

The new car market is one sector that has come off the boil over the past few months. The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders, or SMMT, reported that new car registrations in August were down 6.4 percent from the year before at 76,433.

That’s the fifth straight monthly fall.

Despite the drop, SMMT remains fairly upbeat, noting that the August sales were the third-biggest for the month over the past decade.

n Two women rest while sitting outside of an empty bar terrace at Plaza de la Constitucion square, in Vitoria, northern Spain, on Monday. AP

Gold edges up, hovers near one-year high

REUTERSLONDON, SEpT 5

Gold prices edged up on Tuesday, hovering around their highest levels in nearly a year, as North Korea’s most powerful nuclear test to date underpinned haven demand for the precious metal.

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,335.36 per ounce as of 0700 GMT after touching its strongest since late September in the previous session.

US gold futures for December delivery were up 0.8 percent at $1,340.80.

“Safe-haven buying’s been fairly strong over the past few days but there’s still a level of uncertainty about what the North Korean crisis will mean for markets,” ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said.

Stock markets were under pressure on Tuesday follow-ing a global selloff the previ-

ous day in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear test, while the dollar slipped against the yen and Swiss franc amid signs the North could conduct more missile tests. “Gold prices continued to point north this morning, suggesting that risk appetite remains underwa-ter,” OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan said. “Concerns over geo-political tensions will likely dominate sentiments for the week ahead.”

Gold is used as an alterna-tive investment during times of political and financial uncertainty.

Spot gold still targets $1,345 per ounce, as it has cleared a resistance at $1,333, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.

Among other precious met-als, silver slipped 0.1 percent to $17.87 an ounce, while plati-num was unchanged at $1,007.05 an ounce.

n A woman checks products in a gold and jewellery store in the central Anatolian city of Corum, Turkey. REUTERS

‘Angry Birds’ maker Rovio plans IPOREUTERSHELSiNKi, SEpT 5

The maker of hit mobile phone game “Angry Birds” is planning an initial public offering to raise around 30 million euros ($36 million) and potentially use its shares to make acquisitions.

Finland’s Rovio Entertainment Ltd said on Tuesday that existing share-holders, which include the uncle of the company’s co-founder as well as venture capital firms Accel Partners and Atomico, would also sell some shares, though it gave no details.

It declined too to put an estimated value on the compa-ny, which some traders have said could be a high as $2 bil-lion.

Rovio saw rapid growth after the 2009 launch of the original “Angry Birds” game, in which players use a sling-shot to attack pigs that steal birds’ eggs, as the company cashed in on its popularity by

licensing the brand for use on toys and clothing.

Its business slowed in the following years amid new challengers, but a 3D movie release in 2016 revived the brand and gave a new boost to game sales.

In the first half of this year, Rovio’s sales almost doubled from a year earlier to 153 mil-lion euros, while core profit increased to 42 million euros from 11 million a year earlier.

The company said it expect-ed sales and profits to increase significantly in 2017 as a whole.

“Valuations, also for gam-ing companies, have shot up in past few years. So it’s a tempting time for the owners to make an exit,” said analyst Atte Riikola from Helsinki-based equity research firm Inderes.

“Market rumours have talked about (a Rovio) valua-tion around $2 billion, but compared with historic results ... that sounds really high.”

Technology analysts have said Rovio is too dependent on its “Angry Birds” brand and should create new intellectual property to help it grow.

The company’s main game titles at the moment include “Angry Birds 2,” “Angry Birds Friends” and a new multiplay-er game “Battle Bay.” In total, its games had on average 80 million monthly active users during the second quarter.

Rovio is also planning a sequel to the “Angry Birds” movie with Columbia Pictures, scheduled for release in 2019.

It declined to comment on when the listing on the Helsinki stock exchange would take place.

Rovio is 69 percent owned by Trema International, a firm owned by Kaj Hed, the uncle of company co-founder Niklas Hed.

Carnegie and Danske are joint global coordinators for the planned IPO, while Deutsche Bank and OP are joint bookrunners.

n Angry Birds characters (from left to right) Bomb, Chuck and Red. REUTERS

Australian interest rates at record lowAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSESYDNEY, SEpT 5

Australia’s central bank left interest rates at a record low on Tuesday, sitting on the sidelines for the 13th straight month due to expectations the economy was gradually strengthening.

The nation has been grap-pling with a transition away from an unprecedented boom in mining investment, with the Reserve Bank slashing rates by 300 basis points since November 2011 to 1.50 percent to boost the economy.

“The low level of interest rates is continuing to support the Australian economy,”

RBA governor Philip Lowe said in a statement after the monthly board meeting.

“The board judged that holding the stance of monetary policy unchanged at this meeting would be consistent with sustainable growth in the economy and achieving the inflation target over time.”

Recent data, including for employment, retail sales and capital spending, pointed to an improving growth outlook, the RBA said, adding that “reported business conditions are at a high level”.

The unchanged rate was widely tipped. The Australian dollar slipped slightly to 79.52

US cents.Despite improvements in

some sectors of the economy, the Reserve Bank is still fore-cast by economists to keep interest rates on hold for sev-eral more months amid con-cern about financial stability risks.

These include soaring prop-erty prices, particularly in the larger Australian cities, and high levels of household debt.

“Lending growth picked up quite a lot over 2016, so (the RBA) are remaining cautious that that hasn’t introduced any undue financial stability risks to household balance sheets and also to the finan-cial system,” JP Morgan econ-

omist Henry St John told AFP. He added that if the Reserve

Bank raised interest rates soon, the higher rates could hurt Australians already grappling with high levels of household debt and low wage growth.

Macroprudential tools to tighten housing lending appeared to be taking force, the RBA noted, but “growth in housing debt has been outpac-ing the slow growth in house-hold incomes”.

The Reserve Bank repeated its concern about the recent strength of the Australian dol-lar, which it said would weigh on the outlook for output and employment.

money economyIII the kathmandu post | Wednesday, September 6, 2017

C M Y K

cabbage harvest

n Farmers harvest cabbage at Jorpati rural municipality in Dhankuta district. The district produces vegetables worth more than Rs3 billion annually and half of the production is exported to India. Post Photo: LiLa BaLLav Ghimire

China’s Alipay enters Norway OSLO: China’s leading mobile and online pay-ment service Alipay launched its operations in Norway on Monday to boost Chinese customers’ shopping experience in the Nordic country. “The adoption of Alipay ser-vices of both payment and marketing will not only enhance the experi-ence of Chinese consum-ers but also help Norwegian businesses reach out to their Chinese customers,” said Michael Chen, CEO of APay Nordic AS, a pro-motion and service part-ner of Alipay in the Nordic countries. Alipay, which currently has over 520 million users and is operated by Ant Financial, part of Alibaba Group, is a pow-erful combination of payment tools, financial services and marketing platforms. “Alibaba has been launching its pay-ment services Alipay in Europe since 2016. We are honored to be the one introducing it to Norway as well as the other Nordic countries,” Chen said at a press confer-ence in Oslo. (XINHUA)

German startup Lilium raises $90m in fundingFRANKFURT: Lilium, a German start-up with Silicon Valley-scale ambitions to develop a 5-passenger “flying taxi”, has raised a second, $90 million round of financ-ing from top tech inves-tors, making it one of the best-funded electric air-craft projects to date. The company, which took in $11.4 million only last year, has emerged as one of Europe’s hottest start-ups for attempting to solve hard physics prob-lems for a new category of aircraft capable of vertical take-off and elec-tric powered jet flight. In April, Lilium said it was developing a five-seat “flying taxi” after mount-ing successful test flights of a two-seat jet capable of a mid-air transition from hover mode, like drones, to wing-borne flight, like conventional aircraft. (REUTERS)

Jinan gets $150m ADB loan for transport project JINAN: Jinan, capital of eastern China’s Shandong Province, has been granted a $150 mil-lion loan from the Asian Development Bank to build an urban transit system. The loan is to finance a green trolley bus project, the Shandong provincial department of finance said. Total investment of the project is 2.7 billion yuan (about $411 mil-lion). It aims to develop a modern trolley bus net-work and to improve urban transport environ-ment in Jinan, by reduc-ing emissions and con-gestion in the city. Jinan has a population of 7.2 million, but development of downtown under-ground metro lines have been restricted by the city’s numerous springs, making modern bus ser-vices more important. Jinan ranked as the country’s most congested city during the first quarter of 2016. (XINHUA)

news digest

ASSOCIATED PRESSSAN FRANCISCO, SEPT 5

Security guard Eric Leon watches the Knightscope K5 security robot as it glides through the mall, charming shoppers with its blink-ing blue and white lights. The brawny automaton records video and sounds alerts. According to its maker, it deters mischief just by making the rounds.

Leon, the all-too-human guard, feels pretty sure that the robot will someday take his job.

“He doesn’t complain,” Leon says. “He’s quiet. No lunch break. He’s starting exactly at 10.”

Even in the technology hotbed stretching from Silicon Valley to San Francisco, a security robot can captivate passers-by. But the K5 is only one of a growing menagerie of automated novelties

in a region where you can eat a delivered pizza made via automa-tion and drink beers at a bar served by an airborne robot. This summer, the San Francisco Chronicle published a tech tour-ism guide listing a dozen or so places where tourists can observe robots and automation in action.

Yet, San Francisco is also where workers were the first to embrace mandatory sick leave and fully paid parental leave. Voters approved a $15 hourly min-imum wage in 2014, a require-ment that Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law for the entire state in 2016. And now one official is pushing a statewide “tax” on robots that automate jobs and put people out of work.

It’s too soon to say if the effort will prevail, let alone whether less-progressive jurisdictions

might follow suit. The tussle points to the tensions that can flare when people embrace both technological innovation and a strong brand of social consciousness.

Such frictions seem destined to escalate as automation makes fur-ther inroads into the workplace. One city supervisor, Norman Yee, has proposed barring food deliv-ery robots from city streets, argu-ing that public sidewalks should be solely for people. “I’m a people person,” Yee says, “so I tend to err on the side of things that should be beneficial and safe for people.”

Jane Kim, the city supervisor who is pushing the robot tax, says it’s important to think now about how people will earn a living as more US jobs are lost to automa-tion. After speaking with experts

on the subject, she decided to launch a statewide campaign with the hope of bringing reve-nue-raising ideas to the state leg-islature or directly to voters.

“I really do think automation is going to be one of the biggest issues around income inequality,” Kim says.

It makes sense, she adds, that the city at the centre of tech dis-ruption take up the charge to manage that disruption.

“It’s not inherently a bad thing, but it will concentrate wealth, and it’s going to drive further inequity if you don’t prepare for it now,” she says.

“Preposterous” is what William Santana Li, CEO of security robot maker Knightscope calls the supervisor’s idea. His company created the K5 robot monitoring the Westfield Valley Fair mall in

San Jose.The private security industry,

Li says, suffers from high turno-ver and low pay. As he sees it, having robots handle menial tasks allows human guards to assume greater responsibilities—like managing a platoon of K5 robots—and likely earn more pay in the process.

Li acknowledges that such jobs would require further training and some technological know-how. But he says people ultimate-ly stand to benefit. Besides, Li says, it’s wrong to think that robots are intended to take peo-ple’s jobs.

“We’re working on 160 contracts right now, and I can maybe name two that are literally talking about, ‘How can I get rid of that particular human position?’”

San Francisco official pushes robot tax to battle automationt ec h n o lo gy r evo lu t I o n

n A woman offers to dance with a K5 robot made by Knightscope, at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center in San Jose, California. aP

Australia’s Commonwealth Bank slapped with lawsuitREUTERSSYDNEY, SEPT 5

Commonwealth Bank of Australia was hit on Tuesday with potentially Australia’s biggest class-action lawsuit over a money-laundering scandal that has already smashed its share price and exposed it to billions of dol-lars in fines. Litigation finan-cier IMF Bentham Ltd said it would fund the lawsuit against Australia’s biggest bank, accusing it of making false and misleading state-ments and failing to disclose breaches of anti-money laun-dering rules for years.

A second lawsuit against the A$128 billion ($102 billion) lender, on top of one filed on August 3 by financial intelli-gence agency AUSTRAC alleg-ing breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, is fuelling investor con-cerns that the scandal may still have more shocks in store.

“Things can get worse before they get better, which means the underperformance of CBA ... will continue into the next quarter,” said George Boubouras, managing direc-tor and chief investment officer at Contango Asset Management, which owns CBA shares.

In addition to the two civil suits, CBA is being investigat-ed by Australia’s banking and

corporate regulators over the suspicious transfers cited in the AUSTRAC claim. Investors are also worried that foreign regulators will pick up the case, as some of the money was sent offshore.

Velocity Trade banking analyst Brett Le Mesurier said investors were concerned the scandal could hurt earn-ings growth, because the bank was “looking inwards rather than outwards as they deal with this”.

CBA shares had some res-pite on Tuesday, rising 0.24 percent against a 0.07 percent fall in the wider market. They have dropped 12 percent since the money-laundering scandal erupted last month, wiping roughly A$17 billion ($13.55 billion) off the bank’s market value even though it reported its eight consecutive record cash profit on Aug. 9.

IMF would bankroll the class action on behalf of all CBA shareholders who bought stock between Aug. 17, 2015 and Aug. 3, 2017, seeking dam-ages for the premium paid for the shares as the material information remained hid-den, IMF director Hugh McLernon told Reuters on Tuesday.

CBA has about 800,000 retail and 4 million indirect Australian shareholders, according to its 2017 annual report.

CBA announced a board

shake-up on Monday but the move failed to appease inves-tors, with the stock touching 10-month lows before closing down 1.42 percent.

Three of its nine non-exec-utive directors will leave over the next 12 months, and Robert Whitfield, a former head of institutional banking at rival Westpac Banking Corp, was appointed as an independent non-executive director.

CBA announced on Aug. 14 that Chief Executive Officer Ian Narev would leave by mid-2018, his almost 7-year tenure marred by scandals that have added to calls for a far-reach-ing judicial inquiry into Australia’s banking system more broadly.

The bank is now looking for a new CEO amid one of the darkest periods in its 106-year history, with some analysts saying Whitfield could be in the running.

In the first day of hearings on the AUSTRAC case on Monday, the bank indicated it would not dispute the watch-dog’s allegation that it pro-cessed tens of thousands of illicit transfers amounting to A$624.7 million ($498.64 mil-lion) from 2012 to 2015.

Rather, the court heard it would contest its level of responsibility, having previ-ously blamed a coding error for most of the breaches.

CBA did not respond to requests for comment.

STC imports 25k tonnes of sugar for festivalsPOST REPORTPARSA, SEPT 5

State-owned Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has imported 25,000 tonnes of sugar from India in a bid to regulate market prices and ensure smooth supply during the upcoming festive season.

The shipment amounts to half of the 50,000 tonnes of sugar that STC plans to import by November. Amoj Lamichhane, chief of the company’s Birgunj office, said the imported sugar had already been dispatched to regions with high demand.

“The corporation imported the sugar considering upcom-ing festivals like Dashain, Tihar and Chhath as demand for sugar shoots up during this season,” said Lamichhane. “The amount we have imported will ensure that there will be no shortage of the essential sweetener during the festive season.”

The corporation is also mulling to operate fair price stores at various locations throughout the country dur-ing the festive season in a bid to keep sugar prices under control.

According to STC Chief Executive Officer Urmila Shrestha, they will expedite the process to bring the rest of the planned import of sugar. “The remaining amount will

be imported in 10 consign-ments of 2,500 tonnes each,” said Shrestha. STC started importing sugar in a bid to end the private sector’s monopoly and make it availa-ble at reasonable prices and maintain adequate stocks to forestall possible shortages as output has dropped in both India and Nepal this year.

STC is importing sugar worth Rs5 billion from Renuka Sugar Mills, Haldiya, India through a bidding process.

There are 11 sugar mills in operation in the country. They

produce 165,000 tonnes of sugar worth Rs14.26 billion annually, according to the Ministry of Industry. The country’s annual requirement of sugar amounts to 215,000 tonnes, and the deficit is cov-ered by imports mainly from India and Brazil.

In the past few months, sugar prices had surged to Rs85-90 per kg from Rs65-70 per kg. The price rise has been attributed to STC’s failure to maintain adequate stocks. The private sector has been blamed for jacking up prices

on the pretext of lowered sup-plies.

STC used to import 25,000-30,000 tonnes of sugar every year. However, the state-owned trading enterprise doubled imports this year to maintain adequate stocks.

Sugar prices will drop by Rs2-3 per kg after the ship-ment arrives, according to STC. It has been selling sugar at Rs85.50 per kg retail and Rs84 per kg wholesale. According to STC, the Kathmandu Valley is the larg-est consumer of sugar.

moneybazaar IVWednesday, September 6, 2017 | the kathmandu post

City Express Money Transfer launches ‘Utsav Express’

KATHMANDU: City Express Money Transfer has launched its festival promotional campaign Utsav Express. The 90 day festival scheme will last till December 1. Under the scheme, City Express will be announcing winners selected through live lucky draw on daily, weekly and monthly basis. The company has announced Renault KWID RXL as a bumper prize along with every day prize of one tola silver coins, caps, t-shirts and key rings. It will reward OPPO mobile for one person each week and one LG refrigerator for a Lucky Draw winner every month, reads a press release. (PR)

Sarbottam Cement launches ‘50 ma Jhakas’KATHMANDU: Sarbottam Cement has launched scheme entitled ‘50 ma Jhakas.’ Under the 50 day scheme, the company offers sure shot prizes for

the buyers of its 50 sacks of OPC or PSC products. According to the company, custom-ers can win 50 tola gold, 50 units of

Konka LED televisions, 50,000 watches and the cash prize of up to Rs50,000. Sarbottam Cement that has been manufacturing its products through VRM, a European technology, has pro-duction capacity of 40,000 sacks of cement daily. The company has received ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. (PR)

‘Sambandha ko Utsav’ launchedKATHMANDU: Western Union Foundation and Western Union agents in Nepal targeting upcom-

ing Dashain and Tihar have jointly launched promotion-al campaign entitled ‘Sambandha ko Utsav’. The cam-paign intends to bring people together who are working abroad and cannot attend Nepali’s big-gest festival. Under the scheme, Western Union Money

Transfer is providing recharge cards of Rs50 to Rs500 and is also giving away Samsung J7 Pro mobile handset every week through a lucky draw. This offer will provide customers a valua-ble opportunity to talk heartily with friends and relatives. The campaign will last till September 28, reads the company’s press statement. (PR)

Dish Home launches ‘Khusi On Garaun’KATHMANDU: Dish Home has come up with the festive offer named “Khusi On Garaun.’ Under the scheme, the DTH service provider is offering a cash discount of Rs3,000 for its customers

receiving the Hybrid HD service worth Rs5,999. The scheme is being provided to the customers who install Hybrid HD set-top box from Dish Home. Dish Home has been offering quality ser-vice through HD and SD packages for its custom-ers based in both urban and rural areas across the country, reads a press release. (PR)

New Bajaj showroom opens in Tikapur, Kailali

KATHMANDU: Hansraj Hulaschand & Co, the sole distributors of Bajaj motorcycles has opened a fully-facilitated new showroom ‘Jaimini Automotives Co’ in Tikapur, Kailali. The new showroom is expected to expand the access to its customers purchasing spare parts and accesso-ries for the two-wheelers under the brand. To celebrate the new opening, the showroom has come up with exciting prizes for the customers, reads a press statement. (PR)

LG’s ‘Hajur ko Parva Hamro Prabidhi’ launched

KATHMANDU: LG, a subsidiary of Chaudhary Group, has launched the festive offer named ‘Hajur ko Parva Hamro Prabidhi.’ The scheme offers the LG customers with free gifts, up to 30 percent cash discount and two year full warran-ty on purchase of LED television.The offers include free SHPive Sound Bar worth Rs37,990 on purchase of all LED TV and UHD TV, free Music Follow worth Rs15,090 on purchase of 49 inch and 55 inch smart TV, free HL 64 B Audio System on purchase of 43 inch HD TV and 49 inch and 55 inch Smart TV and free PH1 blue-tooth speaker worth Rs7,190 for customers of 43 inch Smart TV and normal LED TV of more than 43 inch monitor size. Under the other scheme from the company, LG customers are offered free microwave oven, mixer grinder, super cooker, kitchen utensils, detergent and installation service on price range of Rs2,000-Rs13,190 on purchase of its wide range of elec-tronic devices such as refrigerator, microwave oven, washing machine and AC, reads the com-pany’s press statement. (PR)

Magic Footwear opens showroom in Golbazaar, Siraha

KATHMANDU: Magic Footwear, a subsidiary of Jay Shree Group, has opened its franchise show-room in Golbazaar, Siraha. Through the new store, the company sells more than 100 designs of footwear such as Magic, aaros, MForce, Schoolko and MPure from the brand. MPure from Magic is one of the new products in the women segment. Magic sells its products through 25 showrooms spread across the coun-try. The company manufactures footwear in more than 150 models. (PR)

Teletalk launches ‘100 percent Cash Back Offer’

KATHMANDU: Teletalk, the authorised distributor of Colors Mobile, has launched its festive scheme ‘100 percent Cash Back Offer.’ The scheme is applicable on purchase of Colors Mobile new line up handsets from Pride Series - P45, P55 selfie and P70 SelfieU. The company will announce 50 lucky winners receiving 100 percent cash back and other fantabulous gifts from Colors Mobile. The P45 comes with 2MP front and 5MP rear camera, whereas P55 selfie comes with 2MP front and 5MP rear. Similarly, P70 self-ieU is equipped with 8MP camera at both ends and equipped with flash. (PR)

Fisher Price products now available in market

KATHMANDU: Maverick Private Limited has launched The First Years and Fisher Price prod-ucts, US brands on a wide range of baby prod-ucts, through Baby Stations. Maverick sells the products through four outlets of The Fun Station in located in Labim Mall, City Centre, Ekantakuna and Naagpokhari. The Baby Station is a one stop destination for high-quality prod-ucts for new parents, infants, and toddlers. Baby Station offers 100 percent silicon BPA free, Phthalates free, PVC free and TPE free products from The First Years and Fisher Price, ensuring the safety and quality products for the babies, reads a press release. (PR)

Panchakanya Group celebrates 45th anniversaryKATHMANDU: Panchakanya Group has celebrated 45th anniversary of the company and 86th birth anniversary of the company’s chairman Prem Bahadur Shrestha. Marking the occasion, Panchakanya honoured dealers of its products

such as Safal Steel, plastic and SS Water Tanks. Under the social corporate responsibility, Panchakanya targeting the flood victims has handed over Rs251,000 to the Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund. Similarly, the company has also provided Rs450,000 to Child Reach Nepal, a NGO working on the promotion of health and education for children. (PR)

Bajra and Bajracharya Enterprises offers festive discountsKATHMANDU: Bajra and Bajracharya Enterprises, the distributor and dealer of pipe, tiles, sanitary, kitchenware and wellness products from various domestic and international brands, has announced a discount offer for its customers in the occasion of Dashain festival. Under the fes-tive scheme, the company offers buy one get one free, Kohler Bathroom package officer (residen-tial) , special bathroom package for Hotel, cash back or gift items offer, gift on CRW equipment and scratch card in its sanitary products, pipe,

tiles, wellness equip-ments. Bajra and Bajracharya sells prod-ucts from international brands like KOHLER, Porcelonasa, CRW, HalCon, Supreme, Somany and Lexicon from its showrooms

located in Bijulibazar, New Baneshwor, Satdobato and Lagankhel, reads a press release. (PR)

‘WaiWai Glocal Teen Hero 2017’ winner crowned

KATHMANDU: Glocal Pvt Ltd has announced the winner of ‘WaiWai Glocal Teen Hero 2017’. Sachin Dangi from Dang has bagged the title. Sachin is the president of Teenage society of Nepal- an online group with 5000 Nepali teenag-ers and 70 volunteers. Out of the top six finalists from 320 applicants, he was nominated for the title based on the teenagers demonstrating diverse skills and expertise and making an impact in the society. Glocal Teen Hero is a national platform organised to recognise and honor outstanding teenagers. It is a platform for Nepali teenagers to share their initiation, crea-tivity, and enthusiasm which will then motivate them and more of the other teenagers in the nation to develop an entrepreneurial thinking, reads a press release. (PR)

‘Mann Kholau Coke Sanga’ launched

KATHMANDU: Coca-Cola announced this year’s edition of its Dashain and Tihar celebrations campaign entitled ‘Mann Kholau Coke Sanga.’ campaign. Under the campaign, Coca-Cola has launched its new labels pack with eight different customised messages. These labels are highlight-ed in Nepali, honoring the closest relationships and family for the festive season. These packs provide an opportunity for consumers to gift their loved ones with a thoughtful message and share a coke during their special moments, reads a press statement. (PR)

Micromax launches ‘Grand Fest Offer’KATHMANDU: Micromax, an Indian smartphone manufacturer, has launched ‘Grand Fest Offer’ campaign for the festive season of Dashain and Tihar. The campaign comes with a tag line of ‘Bike Ko Ride - Dubai Flight.’ Under the festive offer, customers who purchase Micromax smart-

phones will get a scratch coupon through which they can get sure shot cash discount. Customers can get instant cash dis-count by scratch-ing the coupon on every purchase of Micromax smart-

phones. The code imprinted in the scratch card is kept by both the dealer and customers for con-ducting lucky draw. Winners of the prizes are selected through lucky draw. The campaign comes with a bumper prize of one SUZUKI GIXXER motorcycle. Other attractive prizes offered are one Dubai Tour Package for a couple, eight BRAVOS LED TVs and 8 Micromax mobile sets, states a press release. (PR)

C M Y K

gasolIne watch

bullIon Price Per tola

Source: FeNeGoSiDa

Int’l market

Energy Price (US$) %Change

Agriculture Price (US$) %Change

Industrial Metals Price (US$) %Change

copper Future (lb) 316.35 1.46

Precious Metals Price (US$) %Change

Gold 100 oz Futr (t oz) 1,337.50 0.53Silver Future (t oz) 17.95 0.78

cocoa Future (Mt) 1,972.00 1.28coffee ‘c’ Future (lb) 129.2 0.12corn Future (Bu) 358.5 0.91cotton No.2 Futr (lb) 72.54 0.92rough rice (cbot) (cwt) 12.94 -0.04Soybean Future (Bu) 961.25 1.24Soybean Meal Futr (t) 302.6 1.27Soybean oil Futr (lb) 35.76 0.25Sugar #11 (World) (lb) 13.89 1.02Wheat Future(cbt) (Bu) 444.5 1.31

Fine Gold rs57,300

Silver rs790

Brent crude Futr (Bbl) 52.67 0.63Gas oil Fut (ice) (Mt) 506.5 0.65Gasoline rbob Fut (Gal) 169.01 -3.31Natural Gas Futr (Mmbtu) 3.04 -0.98

market watch

Vegetables Unit Price (Rs)

Fruits Unit Price (Rs)

red Potato kg rs45

White Potato kg rs35

onion (indian) kg rs65

tomato Small kg rs65

carrot kg rs95

tomato Big kg rs85

Squash kg rs45

cabbage kg rs45

Brinjal long kg rs45

cow Pea kg rs65

cauliflower kg rs95

daIly commodItIes

apple kg rs125

Pomegranate kg rs190

Pineapple kg rs115

cucumber kg rs65

Papaya kg rs85

Banana Doz rs85

lime 100Pcs rs625

Pokhreli rice kg rs75

Jeera Masino rice kg rs70

indian Basmati rice kg rs100

Mansuli rice kg rs55

Sona rice kg rs50

Beaten rice(taichin) kg rs130

Beaten rice kg rs60

Big Mas kg rs180

Small Mas kg rs130

Big Mung kg rs140

Musuro(No. 1) kg rs150

Musuro(No. 2) kg rs130

rahar kg rs140

chana(Big) kg rs220

chana(Small) kg rs180

chilli Powder kg rs350

Commodities Unit Price (Rs)

RETAIL PRICEFestive offers to encourage buyingABHISHEK CHITRAKARKatHMaNDu, SePt 5

It’s that time of the year where automobile companies in Nepal are offering their fes-tive offers to celebrate two of Nepal’s biggest festivals, Dashain and Tihar.

These offers are so effective that most com-panies make up the bulk of their yearly sales dur-ing this period. People are ready to spend money dur-ing festivals and companies are looking to capitalise with exciting offers and schemes.

Most people also wait for the festive offers from automobile companies before buying as the best offers are usually reserved for the festive period of Dashain and Tihar.

This ensures that customers get the most bang for their money while automobile companies record a surge in sales.

Many two-wheeler and four-wheeler companies like Ford, Tata, Hyundai, Bajaj, Hero, TVS, Mahindra, Honda, Suzuki have started offering different types of exciting schemes for the upcoming festive season. Here are some of the festive offers by automobile com-panies.

Go automobiles, authorised distribu-tor of Ford has introduced its Dashain Tihar offer “Cash ma Cash Offer” in which the company is offering benefits worth up to Rs1.1 million.

These includes cash discount up to Rs700,000 and sure shot lucky draw up to Rs400,000 with a minimum discount of Rs80,000. Ford is also giving away free accessories worth Rs30,000. Finance and exchange facility is also available at Ford.

Sipradi Trading, the authorised dealer of Tata motors has also launched their Dashain Tihar offers as “Dashain ma dasau tola” in which the company is giving away up to 10 tola of gold with every car purchase.

Jagdamba Motors-TVS, the author-ised distributor of TVS vehicles in Nepal, has launched “TVS Sarna 100 Din” festive offer in which people can

get instant discount of Rs7,000 on motorbikes and Rs9,000 on every purchase of scooter. Additionally, people can get 1 tola of gold every day for 100 days.

HH Bajaj, the authorised distributor of Bajaj motorcycles in Nepal, has announced “Cha nisana” Dashain Tihar offer in which people will get a scratch coupon with every purchase of their motorbike. By scratching the coupon people can get instant cash up to Rs600,000.

CG Motocorp, the authorised distributor of Suzuki cars in Nepal, has come up with ‘Suzuki Parwatsav double majjaa’ offer for the upcoming festive season.

Under this offer, the company is providing cash discount up to Rs 600,000, free insurance for two years, free road-tax and namsari, special deals on 2016 models, exchange bonus up to Rs50,000 and additional cash discounts up to Rs100,000 through scratch card.

Laxmi Intercontinental, the author-ised distributor of Hyundai vehicles in Nepal, has introduced the ‘Hyundai Festive Delight 2074’ for the upcoming festive season.

Under this offer, the company is pro-viding cash discounts up to Rs500,000 with every purchase of Hyundai vehi-cles, free insurance for one year, 10gm gold for 100 lucky buyers, a Dubai trip

for 10 lucky couples, up to Rs100,000 cash discount through scratch card and a chance to win a brand new Hyundai

Xcent and Elite i20 for two lucky buyers.

NGM Hero, the authorised distributor of Hero motorcy-cles in Nepal, has launched its

festival scheme ‘Vagya Money Vaye’ offer where the company is providing Rs6,000 sure shot discount, costumers get Rs1,000

to Rs10,000 scratch card and addi-tional Rs100,000 as a bumper prize every week to one lucky winner.

MAW Enterprises, the authorised distributor of Yamaha motorcycles and scooters in Nepal, has introduced its Dashain and

Tihar scheme ‘CASH-IN-O (Cash Instant Offer)’ under which the com-pany is providing instant cash discount of Rs7,000 and lucky draw of Rs100,000 every week and a Skoda Rapid in the bump-er prize.

VG automobiles, the authorised distributer for Suzuki motorbikes has come up with a Dashain and Tihar offer, “Chaaka ma chaaka Nagad

Pakka” in people can get instant dis-count of Rs7,000 in motorbikes and Rs9,000 with every pur-chase of scooter, up to Rs100,000 cash through scratch card and a Renault Kwid as a bumper prize.

Syakar Trading Company, the authorised dealer of Honda has brought up “Honda Wheel of Fortune 2” offer in which people can get Rs100,000 to Rs1,000,000, cash discount up to Rs100,000 through scratch card, 10 extra free servicing worth Rs4,500, 10 percent discount on spare parts for 5 years. 10 lucky people stand a chance to win up to Rs1,000,000 as a bumper prize.

b izl ine