LOCAL NEWS

On Thursday  afternoon, the Prime Minister chaired the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the 13th Five-Year Plan for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MoIT). The Ministry’s roadmap is centered around enhancing national connectivity by land and air, and significantly improving the livability of our settlements. The review highlighted substantial progress …

The government informed that fuel import costs have continued to increase, with the rise in diesel prices being of particular concern. This is especially significant because diesel is a critical input for transport, construction, distribution and other key economic activities, and as such, it has a direct impact on the …

India is facing a major petrochemical shortage following the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, with industries dependent on oil and gas feeling the impact. The hardest hit are petrochemical sectors, particularly downstream industries such as plastics and agrochemicals. According to The Economic Times, major petrochemical companies and producers, …

The Cabinet has approved a 4 percent Economic Stimulus Program (ESP) subsidy for hotels for a one-year period, but implementation has taken longer than expected as multiple agencies work to finalize the framework. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment (MoICE), Ministry of Finance (MoF), and Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) …

For grocers and shopkeepers, every plastic bag handed to a customer for “free” is a direct hit to their struggling businesses. While shoppers view these bags as a basic convenience, small-scale vendors in Thimphu are facing rising costs and a lack of effective plastic policy, forcing some to hike product …

In the quiet corners of Thimphu’s buildings, humble doma (betel leaf with areca nut and lime paste) shops, also known as “pan” shops, are facing a harsh reality. For owners like Karma, soaring rents and the introduction of GST are turning small-scale entrepreneurship into a daily struggle, forcing some to …

The luxury of owning gold is becoming increasingly out of reach for the average Bhutanese citizen as prices soar, and jewelry stores worry that the introduction of GST could further cripple the market. Jewelry stores in Thimphu face a dilemma, especially as gold prices have surged significantly this year. On …

The Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) has recorded two new types of scams as of 2026 which are email compromise and mobile “bland out” schemes. According to RBP data, 12 cases involved email compromise, accounting for Nu 600,905 in losses. Another four cases were linked to mobile “bland out” scams, resulting …

The Government is set to spend approximately Nu. 844 million to provide a one-year 4% interest subsidy under the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) for the hotel sector. Tashi Wangmo, Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment (MoICE), said the Ministry is working closely with the Royal Monetary Authority …

Service sectors continue to perform strongly, but overall growth is expected to moderate to 5.82 percent, down from the earlier projection of 6.21 percent for 2025, according to the macroeconomic outlook from the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The downward revision is mainly due to the hotels and restaurants subsector, which …