Foreign investors repatriated cash dividends of Rs 13.77 billion in the first nine months of current FY

Published On: April 17, 2023 07:45 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, April 17: Foreign companies repatriated cash dividends worth Rs 13.77 billion from Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

According to the Department of Industry (DoI), the multinational companies were permitted to take away the equivalent amount of the foreign currency in return for their investment in the country. The DoI records show that the multinational companies took away their earnings of Rs 3.24 billion just in one month between mid-March and mid-April.

In terms of royalties, the multinational companies repatriated royalties worth Rs 2.11 billion, US $1.245 million, INR 306.29 million and 7,000 Euros as of mid-April in the current fiscal year. The amount stood at Rs 206 million, US $73,313 and INR 45,783 in the past one month.

As per the law, foreign companies need to take approval of the DoI and Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to repatriate their earnings on their investments. They are allowed to take away the amount after 15 days of receiving the approval from the government bodies.

In the fiscal year 2021/22, multinational companies repatriated total earnings of Rs 22.55 billion to their home countries from Nepal. The government statistics show that the dividend earned by the FDI-based companies from Nepal increased over three-folds in the past seven years. During the fiscal year 2014/15, the repatriation by the foreign companies stood at around Rs 7.50 billion.

According to the NRB officials, the foreign companies have been making a good amount of earnings in recent years. The central bank has been providing an adequate amount of foreign exchange while the companies repatriate their earnings.

Surya Nepal, Butwal Power Company, Ncell Pvt Ltd, Gorkha Brewery, Power Transmission Company Nepal, Unilever Nepal and Bottlers Nepal are among the multinational companies that have been making good earnings from investment in Nepal. Likewise, Dabur Nepal, Asian Paints, Standard Chartered Bank, Nepal SBI Bank, Aarti Strips, Hongshi Cement, Shivam Cement, Pepsi and KFC are also in the row.

Meanwhile, 298 foreign companies pledged to invest Rs 41.21 billion in Nepal during the first nine months. The amount stood at Rs 8.91 billion last month alone.

During the review period, the DoI recommended business visas to 1,224 foreign investors, representative visas to 186 individuals and dependent visas to 524 individuals.