NRB Governor doubts on achieving 7 % economic growth

Kathmandu / Jan 9: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said achieving the economic growth rate of seven percent targeted by the government for this fiscal year will be a herculean task.

Speaking at a parliamentary Public Accounts Committee meeting on Sunday, the country’s central bank governor expressed his view on the growth target at a time when the government is claiming to meet the target. Time and again, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has been reiterating to utilize the budget of capital expenditure by 10 percent every month to achieve the goal.

The coalition government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba through the substitution budget last September set an ambitious seven percent economic growth target for the current fiscal year. The growth target is 0.5 percent points more than the target announced by the erstwhile KP Oli-led government.

However, the NRB Governor said it would be very difficult for the government to achieve the target. According to him, it will be an added challenge also to maintain the inflation rate within the target of 6.5 percent due to soaring price of petroleum products and increased interest rates triggered by the ongoing shortage of loanable funds.