SINGAPORE: Gold struggled to recover from overnight losses on Tuesday on expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike next week and a robust dollar. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,071.52 an ounce by 0009 GMT. It fell as much as 1.6 percent on Monday to hit a session low of $1,069.66. * Friday’s strong US nonfarm payrolls data supported widely held market views that the Fed would hike interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade later this month. * Gold gained 2.3 percent on Friday on short-covering immediately after the data, but with the focus back on the rate rise next week, investors sold off the metal on Monday. * The dollar extended gains against a basket of major currencies on Monday, helped by the jobs data and the looming rate hike, further weighing on bullion. * Higher rates tend to drag on non-interest-paying gold by increasing the opportunity cost of holding it, while boosting the dollar. * Bullion has lost about 9.5 percent for the year, its third straight annual decline, on expectations of the rate hike. * Investor sentiment has been downbeat. Assets in SPDR Gold Trust ( GLD), the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, tumbled 0.65 percent to 634.63 tonnes on Monday, the lowest since September 2008. * Elsewhere, China likely added nearly 21 tonnes of gold to its reserves in November, according to Reuters calculations from central bank data on Monday. * The central bank’s biggest purchase in five months failed to provide much support for the gold price.

KATHMANDU:

The government is planning to construct fuel storage facilities in Panchkhal of Kavre, Trishuli of Nuwakot and Khaireni in Tanahun soon.

I Under Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Shiva Prasad Tripathi said each facility would have the storage capacity of 6,000 kilolitres of petrol. He added that the Chinese government has been approached for constructing the fuel storage facilities.
Likewise, all the depots would have a 1,000-kilolire diesel storage facility.

The Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs have already forwarded the proposal to this effect at the request of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies.

Currently only 71,569 kilolitres of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel are stored in the country. There is no provision for the storage of kerosene and LPG on a large scale.

Currently, the nation can store petrol for a week, diesel for 15 days and aviation fuel for 10 days.

Currently, consumers have been hit hard due to the shortage of fuel owing to the inadequate fuel storage facility in the aftermath of the undeclared border blockade imposed by India on Nepal.

In this backdrop, Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel and Commerce Minister Ganesh Man Pun have held frequent discussions on augmenting the present fuel storage capacity in the country.
An agreement was reached whereby the Ministry of Finance would manage the budget required for moving ahead the required process for increasing the fuel storage capacity.

Presently, Nepal Oil Corporation has fuel storage facilities in Thankot, the Tribhuvan International Airport and Sinamangal of Kathmandu, Bhairahawa of Rupandehi, Pokhara of Kaski, Nepalgunj of Banke and Biratnagar of Morang, among other places.

Tripathi said a proposal has been presented to the Government of the People’s Republic of China for the assistance.