The fiscal cost of Bhotekoshi

The most expensive consequence of Bhotekoshi was not the flood itself. It was the bill it created.

The government-led Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment placed direct physical damage and economic losses at Rs408.29 billion and estimated Rs723.31 billion for recovery, reconstruction, livelihood restoration, risk reduction and more resilient rebuilding. The second figure is not an invoice already payable by the government. It is an economy-wide estimate. Yet its scale shows how quickly a mountain disaster can become a national public-finance problem.