The latest World Economic Outlook projects Nepal’s economy to grow by 2.5 percent in current FY
KATHMANDU, Oct 13: Nepal’s economic growth remained flat in the last fiscal year 2019/20, according to the latest forecast of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Releasing the World Economic Outlook (WEO) on Tuesday, the IMF downgraded Nepal’s growth forecast to zero percent in the last fiscal year as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the economy.
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The forecast from the IMF is way lower than the 2.27 percent of growth projection by the Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal in April.
The IMF has, however, projects that Nepal’s economy would grow by 2.5 percent in the current fiscal year 2020/21. The growth projection for the current fiscal year is higher than the recent forecast of 0.6 percent by the World Bank.
Though the IMF puts Nepal’s growth projection toward a higher side compared to the World Bank, it is still way lower than the government’s target to achieve seven percent of growth in the current fiscal year.
In its latest report, the IMF said that it continues to project a deep recession in 2020. Global growth is projected to be -4.4 percent, an upward revision of 0.8 percentage points compared to its June update, according to the report.
“This upgrade owes to somewhat less dire outcomes in the second quarter, as well as signs of a stronger recovery in the third quarter, offset partly by downgrades in some emerging and developing economies,” said Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s Chief Economist, in her statement.
