Nepal realizes only one-third of the FDI commitments: NRB

Kathmandu / Oct 15: Nepal’s realization of foreign direct investment (FDI) is only one-third of the total amount committed by the investors.

According to the records with Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), foreign investors pledged to invest Rs 357 billion, out of which the country received investment of only Rs 130 billion as of 2020/21.

Since Friday, the government reduced the minimum threshold of FDI to be brought inside the country from Rs 50 million to Rs 20 million. The Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Rule 2021 has maintained that the foreign investors need to inject a maximum of 50 percent of the committed amount in the next one year from the date of taking the government approval.

For the pledged amount of Rs 20 million, half of the amount should be injected in the next one year. If the amount is Rs 250 million, the investors must invest 15 percent of the total amount in the prescribed time. The proportion is 10 percent and 5 percent for the committed investment of Rs 1 billion and more than Rs 1 billion, respectively.

As of mid-September this year, Nepal has received commitments for FDI worth more than Rs 419 billion. Investors from 55 countries have been injecting FDI in the landlocked country. Of them, Indian companies pledged to invest Rs 79.14 billion, the largest of all. It is followed by the Chinese investment of Rs 75.77 billion.