RSP’s economic blueprint

It should prioritise the use of public money for reasonable purposes.

The overwhelming electoral mandate for the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) offers an unprecedented opportunity to improve Nepal’s economy, which has been perpetually held back by poor governance. Economic policy advice is often centred around which sectors to support—e.g., tourism, information technology services, manufacturing, hydropower, agriculture— or what type of spending to emphasise—e.g., infrastructure, health, education. While it is easy to identify a long list of ‘areas of improvement’ for Nepal’s economy, it is more important to emphasise fundamental changes that will affect all sectors and policy areas. On the economic front, two priorities should be central for the RSP government: Reversing the misallocation of public funds and dismantling syndicates and cartels.