National Bank's half-yearly report: What are the economic indices?

According to the semi-annual report of the financial year 2082/83 published by Nepal Rastra Bank, the economic growth of Nepal is estimated to be 3.85 percent. In the previous fiscal year 2081/82, the economic growth rate was revised to be 4.43 percent. According to the report, the world economy is projected to grow by 3.1 percent in 2026, while global inflation is estimated to be 4.4 percent. It is estimated that the service sector's contribution to Nepal's gross domestic product will be the highest at 61.81 percent. The contribution of the primary sector will be 24.46 percent and the contribution of the industrial sector will be 13.73 percent.

In the agricultural sector, the production of food and other crops has decreased by 6.76 percent. Vegetable and horticulture production increased by 1.02 percent and fruit production by 6.51 percent. Similarly, while milk production decreased by 25.97 percent, meat production increased by 7.37 percent and egg production by 6.73 percent. The average capacity utilization of the industrial sector is 42.11 percent. According to the report, 30.82 percent of the total loans from banks and financial institutions went to the industrial sector. In the first 6 months of the current fiscal year, 63,000 foreign tourists have come to Nepal in the service sector. Although the number of real estate registrations decreased by 10.4 percent, the revenue received from it increased by 68.5 percent to 18.99 billion rupees.

Similarly, deposits of banks and financial institutions have increased by 15.39 percent in one year, while lending has increased by 6.24 percent. The share of Bagmati province in total deposits and loans is 65.52 percent and 60.33 percent respectively. Karnali region has the lowest share. The number of vehicle registrations increased by 7.22 percent, while the total capital of the selected cooperatives decreased by 0.04 percent. However, the savings of those cooperatives have increased by 8.91 percent and loans by 1.55 percent. In terms of infrastructure, 159.01 km of tarred roads, 4 km of gravel roads and 32 km of clay roads have been completed during the review period.

In the first six months, exports of goods to the external sector increased by 43.76 percent to 1 trillion 42 billion rupees, while imports increased by 14.18 percent to 9 trillion 39 billion rupees. During this period, 3 lakh 96 thousand 86 people have gone for foreign employment with re-employment approval. The federal government has spent 6 trillion 90 billion rupees out of the budget allocated for the current financial year. Similarly, 40.73 billion rupees have been spent out of the total budget allocated by the state governments.

The National Bank has estimated that the economy will remain positive in the current financial year due to government policy reforms, budget implementation and gradual improvement in economic activities. However, due to growing geopolitical tensions in West Asia and other regions, the report also warned that the increase in the price of petroleum products could create pressure on inflation.