Nepal fail to achieve goals set in previous year's budget

Nepali government conceded in the fiscal year 2004/2005 (July 16, 2004 to July 15, 2005) it failed to achieve the goals set in the previous year's budget, Radio Nepal reported Saturday.

"The progress was not up to the mark as the pace of economic and social development was slower than expected," the state-run radio quoted Finance Minister Madhukar SJB Rana as saying.

"This mainly due to protracted conflict, insecurity, and political instability that constrained economic and administrative reforms, and poor monsoon is also one of the main causes behind the slowdown," Rana said Friday at the Finance Ministry Friday when releasing the Economic Survey of the fiscal year 2004/2005.

The gross domestic product (GDP) was likely to grow only by 2.0 percent in the fiscal year against 3.3 percent last year, according to the survey.

The agricultural sector is likely to grow by 2.8 percent and the non-agricultural sector by 1.6 percent. Last year, the growth in agricultural sector stood at 3.9 percent while the non- agricultural sector posted a growth of 2.9 percent, the survey said.

The sharp fall in the export of ready-made garments and the downturn in tourism industry have been identified as other causes of poor economic performance, according to the survey.

The survey projected a growth of 3.5 percent in export while import is likely to be negative by 4.0 percent. Last year, the exports grew by 8.0 percent while the imports increased by 9.6 percent, the survey added.

Source: Xinhua