ADB expects better Nepali economy in new fiscal year

KATHMANDU, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) — Nepal’s economy is projected to fare better in the current 2024-2025 fiscal year after dismal performances in the last few years, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in its latest report on Wednesday.
Nepal is expected to achieve a growth of 4.9 percent in 2024-2025 starting in mid-July, up from an estimated growth of 3.9 percent in 2023-2024, the bank said in its Asian Development Outlook.
Nepal has been in a negative or low-growth trajectory after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. The Nepali government is aiming at a 6-percent growth for 2024-25.
“Gross domestic product growth will pick up on a gradual recovery of domestic demand, acceleration of infrastructure spending, and further revitalization of tourism and related services,” ADB Country Director for Nepal Arnaud Cauchois was quoted as saying in a press release.
Nepal’s private sector has long been complaining about a lack of demand in the market, which has resulted in reduced manufacturing production and limited new investments, while the banking sector has been facing a lack of demand for loans.
Agriculture and industry growth supported by an expected favorable harvest and increasing power generation capacity shall also contribute to a modest growth for Nepal in 2024-25, the ADB report said.
It said that the Nepali central bank’s target of containing inflation within 5 percent in 2024-25 “seems attainable” and external risks will remain “relatively well-contained.”
“A perennial risk to economic growth in Nepal is high vulnerability to natural disasters and climate shocks,” the report said. ■