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SAWTEE’s seventh series ends with talks on Post-Earthquake Economy

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Kathmandu, 21 December 2017 South Asia Watch on Trade Economics and Environment SAWTEE, organized a discussion program ‘Impact of Post-Earthquake Reconstruction on the Economy’ highlighting Nepal’s economic condition after Mega-Earthquake 2072.

Former Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Yubaraj Khatiwada, stressed upon the fact that the government would not be benefited from financing the reconstruction through the concessional loans; but rather accepting the grants from various donor countries would help restraint the debt stress. According to Khatiwada, the 2015 earthquake was never the primary reason for the debacle in the economy. “The economy was not in good terms since the 2015-16 fiscal year and subsequently the blockade tied up the prosperity of economy”, he asserted out the major reasons for the marginal growth.

CEO of National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), Yuba Raj Bhusal, talked about the anguish caused by the earthquake in the lives of the common Nepali. He asserted, “The distress on the individual household level is severe and has further amplified the magnitude of the vulnerability of many”.He pointed out that the NRA is targeting to complete the construction of 450,000 houses by the end of this fiscal year.

Bishnu Dev Pant, executive chairman of Institute of Integrated Development Studies, underscored the necessity of more skill-based training programs for the workforce to complete the renovation in time.

“A positive outlook is a must in the present condition as reconstruction activities do not happen overnight. Though it is slow right now, it will gather pace eventually.” former vice chairman of NPC, Shankar Sharma expressed his optimism.

This discussion was the seventh series organized by SAWTEE under the project, ‘Initiating dialogue on Post-Disaster Reconstruction Experience’. They have been supported by Asia Foundation.