Kathmandu, June 6
The World Bank has predicted that Nepal is likely to achieve a gross domestic product growth of 7.1 per cent in this fiscal year 2018/19.
Making public its report titled ‘Nepal Development Update: Investing in People to Close the Human Capital Gap’, the bank says the country’s economy will be mainly driven by the service and agriculture sectors.
“The service sector is likely to grow by 7.5 per cent due to a boost in the retail, hotel, and restaurant subsectors, driven by an uptick in tourist arrivals and remittance-fuelled private consumption,” the report’s abstract reads, “Agriculture is estimated to grow by 5 per cent, well above its 30-year average of 3.1 per cent, due to good monsoons, increased commercialisation, availability of fertilisers and seeds, and improved irrigation facilities.”
Meanwhile, the Bank predicts economic growth to be strong at 8.1 per cent, due to improved power availability from increased electricity generation.
“Private investment and consumption are likely to be the main contributors to growth on the demand side. However, public investment is projected to contract due to a slowdown in post-earthquake reconstruction and delays in national pride projects.”
