26/10/2011
An Overview of Nepalese Economy
There is nothing much to talk about when it comes to Nepalese economy. The data doesn't paint a rosy picture at all. In fact the picture looks grim. Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world. In fact Nepal doesn't stand anywhere to its otherwise developing neighbors such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Thanks to the Sub-Sahara African countries, it is not considered the poorest economy now. Nevertheless, with almost 45% of its population living below the poverty line, Nepal has to do much catching before being termed a Developing Economy.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for three-fourths of the population and accounting for 38% of GDP. Most of the agriculture activities take place in the Tarai region. The sub-standard equipments and pesticides along with the medieval mode of agriculture make it a tough affair. The industrial sector is in a dismal condition. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural products including jute, sugarcane, to***co, and grain. These things are hardly considered industrial activities by New-school economists.
Due to its long stint with monarchy and feudalism, Nepal has one of the most uneven distributions of resources and wealth in the Asia. This has led to the birth of counter initiative movements such as Maoism. Security concerns relating to the Maoist conflict and counter insurgency initiatives have led to a decrease in tourism, a key source of foreign exchange. Nepal has considerable scope for exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism. These are considered the up coming hot cakes in New-wave economy. Prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor, however. There are lots of reasons for this such as the small size of the economy, technological backwardness, landlocked geographic location, civil strife and its susceptibility to natural disaster
