KATHMANDU, April 30: The government has projected the country’s economy to grow by 4.61 percent (at consumer price) in the current fiscal year, which is higher than the figure estimated by the international organizations including the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB).
Unveiling a report on Wednesday, the National Statistics Office (NSO) has estimated the projected growth of the country’s economy for FY 2024/25. The ADB had projected economic growth at 4.4 percent while the WB maintained the rate at 4.5 percent for the review year.
The NSO estimates that the country’s achievement this year also surpasses the growth figures in the past few years. In 2022/23, Nepal’s economic growth rate stood at a mere 1.98 percent, while it increased to 3.67 percent in the last FY.
Rishi Ram Sigdel, director at the NSO, said improvements in non-agriculture sectors have contributed largely to the country’s growth in the review period. According to him, the non-agriculture sector is expected to grow by 4.28 percent, up from 3.36 percent in the last FY.
NSO projects Nepal’s economic growth rate at 3.54 percent in cu...
According to NSO’s preliminary estimates, most of the non-agriculture businesses of Nepali economy are projected to grow positively. The electricity, gas and industry is expected to achieve 13.82 percent growth. Transport and storage, and finance and insurance sectors will grow by 9.45 percent and 6.29 percent, respectively.
Sigdel informed that construction, industry and retail businesses are also expected to post positive growth. The NSO records show that the construction sector of Nepal bounced back in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, with a growth of 9.1 percent compared to a negative 0.3 percent in the first three months of the FY 2024/25.
On the other hand, the agriculture sector will remain sluggish this year. The NSO report says that the farm sector will achieve only 3.28 percent growth in the review period, compared to 3.35 percent in FY 2023/24.
The size of Nepal’s gross domestic product is expected to expand to Rs 6.107 trillion from Rs 5.709 trillion. In terms of the constant price, the figure will reach to Rs 5.379 trillion, up from Rs 5.053 trillion. The government authority has come up with the projection based on the data of the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
However, the macroeconomic statistics unveiled by the NSO shows that the government is likely to miss its target set for the current FY. Through the announcement of the budget for FY 2024/25, the government had maintained the economic growth target at six percent.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s per capita income has reached US $1,517 per annum, up from USD 1,456 last year. It shows that individual income grew by a mere $ 61 per capita per year over the past year.
The country is expected to receive remittance worth 25.89 percent of its GDP by the end of the current FY. Last year, the ratio of remittance to GDP stood at 25.32 percent.
