Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari (1st L F) presents the government's Policies and Programs for the budget of the next fiscal year at the joint session of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly in Kathmandu May 21, 2018. The Nepali government on Monday announced the target of graduating Nepal into a middle income country in the next 10 years. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)
KATHMANDU, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Nepali government on Monday announced the target of graduating Nepal into middle income country in the next 10 years.
Presenting the government's Policies and Programs for the budget for next fiscal year at the joint session of House of Representatives and the National Assembly, Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari said the Nepali government has moved ahead by taking the national moto of transforming the country to a prosperous nation within a decade.
Nepali government will present budget for the next fiscal year 2018-19 on May 29 in the parliament.
The newly-formed communist government has also vowed to double per capita income of the Nepali people in the next five years. Currently, Nepal's per capita income is 1,012 U.S. dollar.
Bhandari said that the next fiscal year would be a foundation year for making history of economic prosperity.
"The economy will grow close to double-digit figure in the next fiscal year while economy would see double digit growth in the next five years," she said.
In the current fiscal year of 2017-18, the Nepali economy is expected to grow by 5.9 percent, according to recently unveiled National Account Estimate by Nepal's Central Bureau of Statistics.
Nepali government has identified agriculture, energy, transport, physical infrastructure, information technology, tourism and civil aviation as key drivers of economic growth.
As per the Policies and Programs, the Nepali government aims to increase per capita electricity consumption to 1500kw from current 110kw in the next 10 years. Nepali government targeted to produce 5,000 mw electricity in the next five years and 15,000 mw in the next 10 years.
Bhandari said that the Nepali government has prioritized constructing 765 kv Nepal-China cross-border transmission line from bordering town Rasuwagadhi to capital Kathmandu along the East-West Highway that go through southern plains.
Construction of Nepal-China cross border railway connecting bordering town Rasuwagadhi to Kathmandu, Nepal-India cross border railway from southern bordering town Birgunj to Kathmandu and East-West Electric Railway are other priorities of the Nepali government, according to the Policies and the Programs.
