Bhutan on Friday morning sent 230,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Nepal. The Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba took to Twitter to thank His Majesty The King and the Prime Minister for the vaccines. He tweeted saying, “Nepal welcomes the friendly gesture from Bhutan in aiding Nepal’s fight against …
Read More »Bhutan may become first country in the world to reach herd immunity
If all goes to plan with Bhutan’s second dose vaccination program, then in another two months or so it stands to become the first country in the world to reach the 80 percent herd immunity required against the Delta variant. The earlier standard for herd immunity was vaccinating 60 to …
Read More »P-II to be delayed by 6 months to 1 year and P-I by 1 to 2 years due to COVID-19
The multi-billion Punatsangchu I and II projects are now officially delayed from six months to two years due to the impact of COVID-19 due to the shortage of labour and the inability of experts to come to Bhutan. The promising 1,020 MW Punatsangchu II project was supposed to be completed …
Read More »Laborers to be allowed in large numbers once 2,000 beds quarantine centers are completed
One of the biggest challenges facing the economy is the lack of labourers to carry on a spate of construction activities from hydropower to government projects to private construction. This is especially so when Construction take up the largest share of the GDP and is thus vital to starting any …
Read More »“Hidden Kingdom” – World Music Festival in Bhutan for first time
Bhutan celebrated its first world music festival, “Hidden Kingdom” (HK) from 28 -31 July this year. The unique event served as an opportunity for the Bhutanese musicians to showcase their talents, and also their music in the coming years. Artist Director of the festival, Ugyen Panday, said that the festival …
Read More »Celebrating Indian Mangoes
Under the ambit of India at 75 ‘Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav’ celebrations to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence, the Embassy and the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority of India (APEDA) organised a virtual Buyer-Seller Meet on 29th July between the Uttar Pradesh State Horticultural Co-operative …
Read More »Bridging loan for paying salary and utilities comes to an end
In July 2020 as part of the monetary measures for COVID-19 the RMA announced Short Terms loans or bridging loans to businesses by banks at a 5% interest rate to pay for wages and salaries to employees, overhead expenses like rents, utility bills, lease, insurance premiums and procurement and purchase …
Read More »DPT VP Lily Wangchuk resigns from the Party
In a statement the DPT Vice President Lily Wangchuk said she has resigned from the post of Vice President of the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa and applied to withdraw from the primary membership of the party. She said he has had great experience working with the most seasoned politicians of Bhutan’s …
Read More »Banks face stormy waters ahead with rising deposits, minimal lending and most clients not opting for the rebate
‘Banks never lose,’ is a widely quoted saying in the financial and business world, but the going does not look good for Bhutan’s Financial Institutions as they are getting a deluge of savings deposits but are unable to lend out that money due to lack of demand for credit in …
Read More »Banks are going after pre-COVID NPL loans
The Prime Minister’s Office on 30th June 2021 announced a loan deferral till June 2022 for all loans sanctioned as of June 30, 2020. The popular assumption was that this means a blanket loan deferral for all loans until June 2022. However, a new section was included in the phase …
Read More »
The Bhutanese Leading the way.