In a recession

There is no political consensus on boosting economy, creating jobs and unlocking public spending.

The government cannot spend, while common folks don’t have much to spend. Persistently high inflation is eating into people’s earnings and destroying their savings. There is a slump in the sales of everything from apparels to apples. As more and more able-bodied men and women leave the country, Nepal is being emptied of its most productive workforce. In their absence, establishments of higher education are reeling. Industries, or what remains of them, face a crippling shortage of qualified manpower. It’s a gloomy picture all around. An increase in remittance and tourist inflow cannot even begin to compensate for the losses other sectors of the economy are racking up. And now, the country has formally entered recession—defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth—for the first time in six decades.