Kathmandu, September 14:

Nepal will require a swift political transformation along with strengthened administrative and governance tools as well as accountable policy systems for a firm future economic growth, said a senior official at the Asian Development Bank.

Dr Bishnu Dev Pant, assistant chief economist at ADB, said that the political quandary, fragile bureaucracy and poor governance are major impediments for Nepal to move forward and achieve the desired growth.

“Political stability, a strong and committed bureaucracy and good governance are crucial issues that Nepal needs to address seriously in the coming days,” feels Dr Pant, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Statistics.

He further added that economic development should go simultaneously with the political transformation in order to maintain social cohesion and take the country forward.

Dr Pant pointed out that rising inequality poses a serious challenge to Nepal’s economic development efforts, which not only hurts poverty reduction efforts but in some cases, has resulted in breaking social harmony, leading to civil chaos and disorder.

“An enlightened and active state with its policymakers being accountable for an inclusive growth could be an answer to this,” he suggested.

Referring to recent findings of a study on purchasing power parity (PPP), Dr Pant disclosed that Nepal is at the bottom amongst 40 countries in Asia and the Pacific region.

“An interesting fact is that Nepal will require another 22 years to come at par with Bhutan,” he said.

Nepal’s inequality is characterised by high inequality in access to education and basic health services. This continues to be a strong impediment for upward mobility.

Access to infrastructure is another crucial factor that constrains access to productive economic opportunities, posited Pant at the function.

Disclosing that ADB’s strategy has changed with greater focus on poverty reduction efforts, Dr Pant said that the bank would continue to supply more grants in the form of technical assistance for capacity building to poorer countries in the region.

He also informed that ADB would continue its support to the Consolidated National Statistics Plan (CNSP) to Nepal, as the country’s major database systems are very poor and not up-to-date.