ADB projects Nepal’s growth rate to remain at 3.9 percent

Kathmandu / April 6: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected a 3.9 percent economic growth rate for Nepal in the current fiscal year – almost half of the government-forecast rate of seven percent.

Unveiling the Asian Development Outlook 2022, the multilateral lending institution has come up with a new projected figure, which is higher than the projection that it made earlier. Earlier, the ADB had estimated that Nepal would grow by 2.3 percent in this fiscal year.

According to the report, an improved economic growth figure is due to an improvement in the economic activities after the government expedited the vaccination against the coronavirus pandemic.

The ADB has estimated that paddy production will drop by around nine percent this year due to the adverse conditions triggered by excessive rainfall and floods. Ballooning imports and nominal rise in exports will add more pressure on the country’s current account balance in 2022, according to the ADB report.