Kathmandu, January 7:

Nation winces as prices touch sky.

The government has failed to control the price hike. The price of rice - the staple food - and sugar do not seem to be coming down as consumers have to pay more for rice and rice-related products as well as and sugar and sugar-related products.

“In the first five months of this fiscal, the price of rice and rice-related products have gone up by 21.8 per cent against 12.5 per cent in the same period last year,” said a report of Nepal

Rastra Bank (NRB), the central authority.

Kathmandu valley is still the most expensive place to live in as region-wise it has posted 16.2 per cent price hike - against the fourth month’s 16.8 per cent - followed by the mountainous region with 13.6 per cent and the Tarai with 13.1 per cent.

The price of food and beverages rose by 17.2 per cent while non-food and service sectors witnessed 10.8 per cent hike, pushing the year-on-year inflation to 14.1 per cent - down by a paltry 0.4 per cent - against this fiscal year’s first fourth month’s 14.5 per cent, NRB said. According to the central bank, the core inflation has also posted more than triple growth - at 13.1 per cent. In the same period the last fiscal year, core inflation was at 4.7 per cent.

During the period, the price of food and beverages increased by more than double to 17.2 per cent from 7.5 per cent in the same period last year. Non-food and service sectors’ price also increased by more than double to 10.8 per cent from 4.1 per cent in the first five months of the last fiscal year. While the price of sugar and sugar-related products increased by more than double, with prices shooting up by 35.9 per cent from 17 percent in the same period the last fiscal.

Inflation in Nepal is related to India where it has come down but was not tamed here. The central bank has targetted inflation at 7.5 per cent in the Monetary Policy. Salary and wages, however, increased during the period by 14.6 per cent against eight per cent in the same period last year due to Rs 2,000 hike given in government employees’ salaries.

Sugar Mill lockout

PARASI: Locals on Wednesday padlocked the Sunwal-based Lumbini Sugar Mill in Nawalparasi for an indefinite period to protest non-implementation of the past 15-point agreement including an agreement on garbage management. It is reported that the mill, which is considered the largest sugar mill in Nepal, crushes 10,000 quintals of sugarcane daily and has suffered a huge loss due to the lockout. — RSS