CBS predicts 0.77 % GDP growth for current fiscal year

Kathmandu / May 3: The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has predicted that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will expand by 0.77 percent in the current fiscal year.

The prediction was made on the basis of economic data of the first nine months of the fiscal year 2015-16 and assumption that the situation will be normal for the remaining period.

Hit hard by devastating earthquakes, unofficial blockade imposed by India and unrest in the Tarai region, the GDP is likely to escape the negative growth. But it will be the lowest growth in the last 13 years, if the current prediction materialized.

The GDP had expanded by meager 0.16 percent in the fiscal year 2001-02. The GDP expanded 2.32 percent in the fiscal year 2014-15 from the previous year.

The primary sector which contributes 32.28 percent to total GDP and includes agriculture and forestry, fisheries and mining and quarrying is predicted to grow by 1.22 percent.

The CBS has predicted the secondary sector contributing 13.43 percent to total GDP to contract by 6.3 percent. It includes manufacturing industries, electricity and construction.

Similarly, the tertiary which contributes 54.29 percent to GDP and includes service sectors like wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage and communication and financial intermediaries, among others, is predicted to expand by 2.67 percent.