January 13: Almost 54 percent of the industries and businesses that were closed due to Covid-19 have already resumed operation, according to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

A survey report on Impact of Covid-19 on the economy released by the central bank on Tuesday (January 12) states that 9.1 percent of industries and businesses are yet to resume their service.

The central bank report mentions that although all kinds of industries and businesses have reported improvement in day-to-day operation, small and middle scale enterprises are relatively lagging behind. According to the report, most of the big industries have made significant progress in resuming operation.

As of mid-December, companies involved in the trade of electricity, LP gas and water have made good progress in resuming their service. A total of 66.67 percent of such industries have started full-fledged operation while 33.33 percent are yet to resume service. During the review period, altogether 64.97 percent of wholesale and retail trade centers have resumed full-fledged operation while 31.33 percent have started partial operation and 3.39 percent are yet to operate.

Similarly, 63.64 percent of enterprises associated to the agriculture sector, forestry and fishery industries have resumed their business while 33.3 percent are partially operational.

Among the production-oriented industries, 49.04 percent are fully operational while 42.31 percent are partially open.

Meanwhile, 29.7 percent of hotels and restaurants have resumed their services to full extent while 44.44 percent of construction companies have also resumed normal operation. Similarly, 36 percent of media and communication companies have resumed their day-to-day operations.

According to the central bank’s survey, only a handful of educational institutions have resumed operation. The report states that only 11.36 percent of educational institutions are fully operational.

The report clearly shows that more than half of the industries and businesses have started full-fledged operation.

The report states that most of the businesses have been finding it difficult to manage operational cost while they are also struggling to receive additional loan.

The central bank had conducted the survey from October 28 to December 9. The central bank had surveyed 674 enterprises of 52 districts during this period.