Consumption occupies over 92% share of GDP
By Our Reporter
The Economic Survey of fiscal year 2023/24 showed that the total outstanding debt of the government o has reached Rs. 2,388.26 billion as of March 13, 2024.
Out of total debt, external debt amounts to Rs. 1,202.73 billion and domestic debt comprises Rs. 1,185.52 billion.
Finance Minister Barsaman Pun presented the Economic Survey separately in the House of Representatives and National Assembly on Sunday.
According to the survey, the share of external public debt to the total outstanding debt is 50.4 per cent while the share of domestic debt is 49.6 per cent.
The federal government has mobilised debt of Rs. 218.87 billion, including Rs. 163.13 billion under domestic borrowing by mid-March 2024.
The increasing debt clearly shows that the country has been unable to generate income even to meet the everyday expenses, not to talk about the budget for development activities. Still, the government has been claiming that economic indicators are encouraging.
Tabling the Economic Survey 2023/24, Finance Minister Barsaman Pun said that the economic and social indices of the country were improving.
He said that the country’s economy would expand by 3.87 per cent due to the expansion in the agriculture and service sectors amid the contraction in the manufacturing industries and the construction sector.
In the last fiscal year, the economic growth was limited to 1.95 per cent.
In the current fiscal year, the economic growth rate of all provinces is expected to improve comparatively.
According to the survey, the economic growth of Gandaki, Bagmati and Lumbini provinces will be higher than the national average economic growth of 3.87 per cent during the current fiscal year.
The government has estimated that Nepal’s GDP will attain the size of Rs. 5,704.87 billion in the current fiscal year 2023/24.
Even though around 62 per cent of the total households are engaged in agriculture, the contribution of the agricultural sector to the Gross Domestic Product has been decreasing continuously in the past years.
The contribution of agriculture, industry and service sectors to the GDP of the current fiscal year is estimated to be 24.09 per cent, 13.0 per cent and 62.90 per cent respectively.
In the last fiscal year, the contribution of agriculture, industry and service sectors to the GDP was 23.92 per cent, 13.60 per cent and 62.48 per cent respectively.
This shows that with the change in the structure of the country, Nepal’s economy has been gradually transformed from agriculture to a service-oriented one.
The share of gross consumption in GDP has been high.
According to the survey, the gross domestic consumption to GDP ratio is expected to be 92.4 per cent in the current fiscal year.
The per capita income (PCI) has been increasing gradually over the years. The per capita national income is estimated to reach US$ 1,456 in the current fiscal year. In the last fiscal year, per capita national income was USD 1,405.
The survey shows that the income of Nepalis has increased by 3.6 per cent in one year.
During the review period, the estimated per capita GDP is USD 1,434 and the estimated per capita national disposable income is USD 1,843.
One of the bizarre facts mentioned in the Survey is that the federal government built only 28 km of road in the first eight months of the current fiscal year. Likewise, iy graveled 190 Km of road and blacktopped 189 km
The total length of national highways and roads constructed under the federal government has reached 34,267 KM. Of them, 53.2 per cent are black-topped, 22.5 per cent concrete and 24.3 per cent unpaved roads.
According to the Economic Survey 2023/24 made public by the government, foreign direct investment of Rs. 29.13 billion has been approved by mid-March 2024.
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