Foreign investors repatriated earnings of Rs 22.55 billion in FY 2021/22

Published On: February 10, 2023 10:00 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Feb 10: Multinational companies repatriated total earnings of Rs 22.55 billion to their home countries from Nepal in the fiscal year 2021/22.

The records with Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) show that the aforementioned amount earned by the foreign direct investment (FDI) based-companies last year was 13 percent more than the amount they earned in 2020/21. By the end of the last fiscal year, these companies took away a dividend of Rs 196.13 billion from the country.

The central bank’s 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.

Likewise, the foreign companies took a cash dividend of Rs 15.75 billion in the last fiscal year. As of the fiscal year 2021/22, the companies earning under the heading was Rs 151 billion in total.

Similarly, the earnings by the FDI-based companies under technology transfer stood at Rs 3.58 billion, sale of property at Rs 780 million and Rs 170 million under miscellaneous headings.

Gunakar Bhatta, spokesperson for the NRB, said the foreign companies have been making a good amount of earnings in recent years. According to him, 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.

At a time when the domestic firms have been expressing their inability to run their businesses, blaming actors like COVID-19 impacts, soaring inflation, exorbitant interest rates and global recession, the multinational companies have been increasing their earnings by a notable amount.