Almost two-thirds of the respondents in the survey, who were dissatisfied with the current economic conditions in the country, blamed political leadership for the sorry state of the country´s economy. Another six out of 10 respondents held corruption responsible for the current economic situation, the survey said.[break]
The Gallup Organization had conducted the survey titled ´Insights South Asia´ throughout the country between July 17 and August 7 among 1,000 people aged 15 and older. It was conducted for South Asia Democratic Forum.
During the poll, a majority of respondents painted a bleak picture of the country´s economy, with 41 percent rating the country´s economic condition as “poor”.
However, only 19 percent considered the condition to be good. Those pereciveing the current economic conditions in the country as “excellent” or “good” were from rural areas, villages and suburbs, those with low and average living standards and those with low levels of education.
Interestingly, 21 percent of the respondents cited Nepal´s large population as one of the main factors negatively affecting economic conditions. Fifteen percent mentioned crime and lack of security, and the same proportion said bad economic policies were to be blamed.
Another 11 percent of the respondents cited poorly qualified population as the factor affecting economic growth. But “virtually nobody regarded trade restrictions as a major brake on economic progress”, the survey said.
Despite these problems, 79 percent of the people surveyed said their family´s standard of living was getting better, as against 11 percent who said that it was getting worse.
The survey found that people living in urban centers were more likely to give “very negative estimate” of the country´s economic situation, with 48 percent of them from the cities saying conditions were deteriorating. Yet a majority of the respondents were more optimistic about the country´s future economic developments with 45 percent saying the condition was getting better.
In spite of all the criticism for the deteriorating economic condition, more than two-thirds of the people did not want to migrate to another country, the survey found. Only 31 percent of the respondents said they would like to move temporarily or permanently to another country, with the US topping the list of most favored destination.
Nepalis were also found to have a great affection for India, with more than eight in 10 respondents saying they had a rather positive opinion about the big neighbor. But when it came to migration, it emerged as the runner-up, which was followed by Japan.
The survey found that the typical would-be migrant was male, young, lived in a large city and had completed at least basic education.
When asked to choose two items -- from a list of eight items -- that were most important to them, 58 percent chose education putting family at a distant second. This was followed by health and work. Majority of respondents also said if given a choice between a secular democracy or a Hindu democracy, they would prefer the latter (63 percent).
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