Submit your Article

Nepal has achieved remarkable success in poverty reduction, nearly eradicating extreme poverty, largely driven by remittances. To strengthen future growth, Nepal should prioritize policy actions that unlock domestic opportunities, according to the World Bank’s Nepal Country Economic Memorandum: Unlocking Nepal’s Growth Potential, released on 24 March 2024. 

Despite progress, Nepal’s economic growth lags behind regional peers. Nepal’s economy grew at an average annual real rate of just 4.2 percent between 1996 and 2023, ranking sixth out of eight South Asian nations, the report states. Structural challenges such as low productivity, declining exports, and a stagnant industrial sector have held back the economy and led to slow job creation in non-agriculture sectors. Young workers are migrating abroad in search of better job opportunities as domestic prospects remain limited.

“Nepal’s success in poverty reduction is impressive, but its economic potential remains largely untapped,” said David Sislen, World Bank Division Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. “Nepal has significant potential to drive stronger growth and create jobs by implementing key reforms to increase the returns from migration, boost exports, use hydropower efficiently, and boost digitalization.”

“The 16th Plan for Nepal outlines a vision of good governance, social justice and prosperity and prioritizes productivity and competitiveness, decent and productive jobs, social security, and ensuring a smooth transition from LDC status. The government is committed to ensuring an enabling policy environment for Nepal’s sustainable growth,” said Vice Chair of the National Planning Commission, Prof Shiva Raj Adhikari.

Produced every five years, the Nepal Country Economic Memorandum offers a roadmap for faster growth in key sectors. It recommends policy actions in four critical areas to unlock Nepal’s economic potential.

A systematic and institutionalized migration system can enhance the returns from migration, the report states: Integrating migration into national development, job creation, and poverty reduction strategies will provide a platform to work toward such a system. Policies should focus on reducing the cost and increasing the benefits and safety for current low-skilled migrants, while also eyeing longer-term skill and destination diversification.

Expanding and better implementing bilateral labor agreements will be critical. Initiatives promoting entrepreneurship and retraining and reskilling programs would allow returning migrants to reintegrate into the domestic labor market, according to the report. 

Improving market competition in key sectors and addressing infrastructure deficits can boost exports. Better managing inflationary pressures would address the erosion of exporters’ price competitiveness, it states: Encouraging people to use remittances for investments and business growth could help ease inflation. Simplifying the process for businesses to get tax refunds on imported materials and lowering import taxes would make it easier for them to export more products. With Nepal’s transition from Least Developed Countries status and the loss of trade preferences, authorities should seek additional preferential trade agreements. 

Developing a clear financing strategy to develop the hydropower sector will help mobilize much-needed investments, goes the report. This strategy could include developing the domestic bond market and an effective framework for large-scale public-private partnerships. Strengthening the regulatory and legal frameworks, by reducing bureaucratic red tape and streamlining the current licensing process, would improve the structure of the electricity market and attract additional investment, the report adds.

Farmers have complained that they were deprived of domestically produced hybrid seeds of maize.

The farmers shared this problem during the concluding session of a residential training on production of hybrid seeds and farming technology. The training was organized by the National Maize Research Program, Chitwan.

Khageshwori Budha Nepali attending the training from Dailekh district expressed worry over availability of imported seeds while lack of the locally produced seeds in market.

Locally produced maize seeds are better and resilient, but it is difficult to find in the market, she added. With the knowledge gained from this training, we would encourage the farmers to produce and utilize the domestic seeds of maize, she added. 

Similarly, Kusmakhar Kafle from Nawalparasi said it is essential to stress organic production of maize and other cereals by making the farmers commercial. Once the nationally produced seeds are ensured smooth marketing, it would be both productive and climate resilient. "Nepali seeds must be made sufficiently available," he added. 

Coordination Director at Nepal Agriculture Research Council, Bhanubhakta Pokharel, said production of hybrid seeds is essential within Nepal. Further publicity on it is equally important, he said, adding that this initiative could be forwarded with cooperation between the farmers' groups and local levels.

"Production of Nepali hybrid seeds requires adequate knowledge, which not only aims at boosting production but also utilizing land and making farming commercial," he observed. 

A total of 20 farmers from various districts attended the training where they were taught on producing hybrid maize seeds within the country.

Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted onlineMonday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.” 

Trump initially told reporters he was not aware that the highly sensitive information had been shared, 2 1/2 hours after it was reported. He later appeared to joke about the breach, Associated Press reported.

The material in the text chain “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported.

It was not immediately clear if the specifics of the military operation were classified, but they often are and at the least are kept secure to protect service members and operational security. The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against the Houthis since the militant group began targeting commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea in November 2023.

Just two hours after Goldberg received the details of the attack on March 15, the U.S. began launching a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The Inland Revenue Office in Chitwan has informed that the revenue collection was upped by 27 percent in the eight months of this fiscal year as compared to the same period last year. However, the office posted only 21.40 percent revenue collection, while only four months are left for the completion of the fiscal year.

Information officer at the office, Bimal Paudel, informed that in the eight months of this fiscal year, the office collected Rs 14.46 billion, while the same period last year recorded the revenue at Rs 11.91 billion.

The 10th national convention of the Press Chautari Nepal elected a 99-member new working committee under the chairmanship of Ganesh Pande.

Outgoing chairman Ganesh Basnet informed that Chetan Adhikari was elected the vice chairman, while Kripa Bhandari the vice chairwoman, Hira Man Lama the general secretary, Hari Ballav Nepal the deputy general secretary, and Bikram Luitel, Pradip Acharya, Naresh Bhandari and Bishnu Taruke the secretaries.

All of them were elected unopposed. Even the coordinators of account commission, discipline commission, policy and training commission, and election commission were elected unopposed by the convention, according to leader Bharat Khadka.

Total 923 representatives attended the convention.

Hitendra Dev Shakya has been appointed as the Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority.

A Cabinet meeting held Monday decided to appoint Shakya to the top post of NEA.

Shakya was appointed as the Managing Director of the power utility on the recommendation of the Energy Ministry.

The meeting held this evening had decided to remove Kulman Ghising from the post of Managing Director of NEA.

Ghising's four-year tenure is expiring on August 9.

Nepal Electricity Authority Managing Director Kulman Ghising has been removed from his post on Monday.

A Cabinet meeting held this evening decided to remove Ghising from the top post of NEA, a minister said.

Ghising was appointed as the Managing Director of the electricity authority on August 11, 2021. He was appointed as the Managing Director to the power utility for the second term.

His four-year tenure is expiring on August 9.

There has been a tug-of-war between the government and Ghising over the issue of cutting off power supply of industries.

Minister for Water Supply Pradeep Yadav has said that women's leadership in drinking water and sanitation users' organizations is still challenging.

Speaking at an interaction on 'Women's Leadership in Drinking Water Users' Organizations: Status, Opportunities and Challenges' organized by the Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users Nepal (FEDWASUN), Nepal here today, he said the role of women in the field of drinking water, sanitation and hygiene was important.

"Drinking water and sanitation are not only basic needs but also related to the health, prosperity and development of the society as a whole. The role of women in this field is even more important. Women often have the primary responsibility of managing water in the household, practising sanitation and maintaining health security,” he said.

Stating that women are capable in every field, Minister Yadav said that they can do any kind of work if given the opportunity.

He said: "Less number of women is seen in leadership roles in consumer organizations. Moreover, women's effective participation from policy making to implementation levels is still challenging.”

The Water Supply Minister also said that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the field of drinking water and sanitation could not be achieved without women empowerment.

He expressed his commitment to strictly implement the legal provisions to ensure the participation of women in consumer organizations.

Minister Yadav said that the legal provisions to ensure mandatory representation of women in organizations related to drinking water and sanitation would be implemented and special quotas, capacity building programmes and financial assistance would be provided to promote women's leadership.

Training, skill development and empowerment programs would be conducted to enhance the leadership role of women, he added.

Stating that community participation was necessary for sustainable management of water resources, Minister Yadav urged the consumers to stop misuse of water, conserve sources and adopt proper sanitation practices.

He appreciated the role played by the FEDWASUN in bringing women into leadership roles and said that the government has given high priority to the initiative of the Federation.