The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The COVID-19 pandemic continued with its onslaught on slowing down the economic growth. The economy is still in its recovery mode.
In the month of May, labour import and use were made more liberal to help revive the economy.
The Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) froze loans of BDBL, RICBL, and CSI banks in of May 2022.
The country recorded its highest ever fiscal deficit this year which was unveiled in the 2022-2023 Annual Budget Report by the Finance Minister, and also caused concerns over declining foreign reserves.
In August, the government restricted the import of vehicles to protect the reserves.
In September, Jaigaon tried boycotting Bhutanese potatoes which was ultimately unsuccessful.
In October, RMA froze education loan offered by T-Bank which causes concern among the public. Druk PNB Bank starts offering the same loan but RMA puts a freeze on it again.
PM and government requested RMA to allow Australia education loan.
In November, RMA reopened the education loan with a new scheme, which is currently offered by commercial banks, BNB, BoB and Druk PNB bank.
In the major event of the 8th Session of 3rd Parliament of the National Assembly and 30th Session of the National Council, the government pushed bold tax movements in the form of Property Tax Bill and Tax Bill of 2022 which received mixed responses from the public.
It was a rough year for the business sector in 2022. With Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) fining business entities for taking advantage of lockdown to hike prices to issues of non-performing loans (NPL), 2022 was a memorable year for the business sector of the country.
From the start of lockdown from 16 January till 10 February 2022, 43 business entities have been imposed penalties amounting to Nu 228,414.80 for various types of business violations which includes hiking the prices of vegetables and grocery items during the lockdown.
2022, which is considered as post-COVID-19 phase, impacted business sector with slow progress in the economy and with business entities being impacted in terms of loan.
In April, 59 business entities were rectified for unfair trade practices and 42 business entities were fined by the OCP.
In May, loan moratorium on BDBL, RICBL and CSI bank was put in place, which impacted the business entities and the public.
In October, Integrated Business Licensing Service system was introduced to bring all regulatory bodies, 20 dzongkhags, 4 thromdes and agencies into one platform so that business licenses applicants don’t need to run around for clearances.
In October, RMA mandated for stricter rules for NPL and six-month observation period which was not a welcome choice by the business sector.
