‘Private sector’s share in GDP is 81.55%’

The share of the private sector in Nepal’s GDP is 81.55 per cent. This is stated in a study report prepared by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) with support from the International Financial Corporation (IFC).

The report was prepared with the cooperation of the National Statistics Office.

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal launched the report amid a programme here on Thursday evening. On the occasion, he said the report reflects the status of the private sector in the country’s economy and thanked FNCCI and IFC for preparing it.

The private sector’s contribution to the GDP in 2012/13 was 86.67 per cent. The report shows that the private sector’s contribution has decreased due to the contraction in the economy as a fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, and earthquake among other reasons.

The report shows that the government’s investment has gone up while the contribution of the private sector has diminished during the post-earthquake and pandemic periods.

According to the report, the private sector companies have expanded by 32 times in the national economy in the last 30 years. There were a total of 28,660 industries in 1983 and the number of enterprises has increased by 30 times and reached 923,356 until 2018.

The private sector is also at the forefront in terms of employment creation. It occupies 85.6 per cent to total employment. It has provided 57 per cent employment in the agriculture, forest and fisheries sector, and 12.5 per cent in the wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair sector, FNCCI president Chandra Prasad Dhakal said.

As he said, the private sector has provided around 5.5 million jobs whereas the government has 427 thousand jobs.

The FNCCI president underscored structural reforms for the private sector to work at full capacity. He also stressed the need for the government to increase capital expenditure and suggested the government prioritize the expansion of investment areas, sustainable development, and private-public partnership, among other topics in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2023/24.