Decline in production of food stuffs and delay in political resolution have dragged the economic growth down to 2.5 percent this fiscal year, estimates the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

According to a report in Kantipur daily, this is the least growth rate witnessed in the last five years. Last year, the economy had grown by 2.8 percent.

When it presented the budget of this fiscal year, the government had predicted there would be 4.5 percent growth in economy. However, the production of food stuffs decreased by 2.78 percent this year while wholesale and retail trade also came down by 2.6 percent.

The industrial sector, too, marked a minimal growth of 2.16 percent in the face of bandhs, lack of infrastructure, power cuts, labour disputes and so on.

The agriculture sector grew marginally by 0.7 percent – compared with 1.1 percent growth previous fiscal year. Likewise, non-agriculture sector also grew by 3.7 percent – compared with 4.6 percent growth previous year.

However, due to new base year and procedural adjustments, the per capita production of Nepalis is estimated to have increased to $383 from $350 last year and the per capita national income is estimated to have increased to $456 from $420 last year.