KATHMANDU, April 6: The National Planning Commission (NPC) has projected an investment of Rs 9,246.39 billion in the next five years during the implementation of the country’s 15th development plan.
According to the approach paper of the five-year periodic plan that was approved by the National Development Council (NDC) meeting on Friday, the country will have to invest an estimated Rs 9,246.39 billion in five years to achieve the growth targets.
The five-year periodic plan that will begin from upcoming Fiscal Year 2019/20 and last until 2023/24 sets a target of 9.6 percent of annual average growth. Out of the total projected investments, the NPC anticipates the private sector to bear half of the investments.
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According to the projection, the private sector is expected to invest nearly 55.5 percent or Rs 5,135.41 billion, while the government will spend 39.1 percent, or Rs 3,613.32 billion.
The remaining investments will be from the cooperative sector (5.4 percent), according to the NPC.
The agriculture sector, which the plan anticipates to grow by 5.4 percent, will require an investment of Rs 813.75 billion. Similarly, the plan sets a target of 14.6 percent of average annual growth in the industrial sector with an investment of Rs 3,154.61 billion. The biggest investment is set to be on the service sector which is expected to grow by 9.9 percent on an average in upcoming five years. The NPC projects an investment of Rs 5,278.02 billion.
NPC’s Secretary Laxman Aryal said that the plan aims at gradually reducing the portion of public sector investments to provide greater role to the private sector in the country’s development.
“During this period, the government has a role to create a foundation for development by making investments in the infrastructure. However, the public sector investments will gradually go down in the next periodic plan to provide more space for the private sector,” he added.
During the five-year periodic plan, the government also aims at graduating to the status of developing country from least developed country.
While the periodic plan estimates the spending of Rs 3,613.32 billion over the period of five years, there are concerns about the mobilization of resources. The concern was even echoed by Minister for Finance Yuba Raj Khatiwada at the closing ceremony of the NDC on Friday.
Pointing out a challenge of finding financial resources to implement the periodic plan and achieve the set targets, he underlined the need to increase gross domestic savings to mobilize internal funds. He also indicated the federal government’s huge financial liability as a constraint in mobilizing additional financial resources.
According to Khatiwada, the federal government is sitting against the annual liability of Rs 600 billion including the pension cost and national pride projects, among other mandatory expenditures.
