On several occasions earlier this year, the Prime Minister had said that COVID-19 has widened the unemployment rate with more Bhutanese people laid-off or not being paid in countries abroad and having to return home. The Economic Contingency Plan (ECP) unit operating under the PMO, in one of the conferences, …

Following divergent views of National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) and Central Water Commission (CWC), the project’s civil engineering consultant, there had been a lot of contention on how the Punatsangchu-I will proceed. As per the Budget 2020 document P-I hydroelectric project (1,200 MW) is expected to be commissioned in March, …

Shopkeepers and locals residing in border towns of the country were anticipating a shift in the market share as the borders are currently closed and locals who used to previously rely on the Indian border towns to get their shopping done had to avail the items from the internal market. …

Around 76 Bhutanese who have been directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are currently working at construction sites in Olakha. Coordinator of the group of workers, Karma Tshering, said he was earlier working as a tour guide for Norbu Bhutan Travels. “There are about 34 tour guides, and 42 people …

With India revealing the SOP for ‘Lockdown 5’ or ‘Unlock 1’ from 1 June 2020, the Minister of Economic Affairs, Lok Nath Sharma, is hopeful that there will be furthermore access to other items that are currently limited in the market due to operational production at sources or due to …

At the Meet-the-Press held on Friday, the Prime Minister (PM) and the Finance Minister (FM) shared some current insights into the government’s budgeting plans which will be delivered with much more detail on Monday when the National Assembly resumes. FM said the economic transformation was a hurdle that he and …

The Economic Affairs Minister yesterday said that the lockdown in India followed by some external factor had stopped the import of the non-essential items. He added that currently due to easing of the lockdown in India, the government is now in a position to facilitate the import of non-essential items. …

The Prime Minister (PM) at the Meet-the-Press session held yesterday stated that the Build Bhutan project under the Economic Contingency Plan (ECP) will require imported skilled workers initially as there are not enough Bhutanese skilled workers to be employed as full-fledged workforce in the construction sector. In consideration of that, …

Mobile phones and accessories, spare parts, construction materials and many other general consumer items are running out in market with the lockdown in India. The disruption in supply of goods and increased demand has also caused price fluctuations in the market. Most mobile phone dealers and distributors in Thimphu stated …

The Health Minister during the COVID-19 friday press conference said “Recently when our team went about asking about the usage of Druk Trace App, people stated that even now people are not using it much. If community transmission is not there it is okay but if the situation worsens, the …