Nepal is facing sluggish economic growth and high inflation in the current 2023-24 fiscal year that began in mid-July, the World Bank said. The South Asian country is continuing a trend of poor economic performance observed in the previous fiscal year, when lower growth (1.9 percent), wide fiscal deficit (6.1 percent of GDP) and high inflation (7.8 percent on average) were registered, according to the global lender. Nepal’s economy is projected to grow by 3.9 percent in 2023-24, lower than the government’s forecast of six percent, the bank said in its Nepal Development Update report.
In particular, Nepal’s agriculture sector, which contributes around one-fourth of the country’s GDP, is expected to slow down to 2.1 percent from 2.7 percent in 2022-23, the bank said. It said that inflation is forecast to remain elevated in Nepal, weighing on people’s real disposable incomes and private consumption. —Xinhua
