‘It’s time for the govt to take responsibility for political and economic restructuring’

As economic uncertainty destabilizes the region, Nepal has its own litany of national events that create adverse rhetoric around money. The current economic uncertainty has dented consumer and investor confidence at multiple levels and forecasts by economic pundits provide little solace. What does this mean for the common man, and are we really doing enough to stabilize the situation and what it could mean in the coming days? For individuals, there is growing uncertainty about work, income, value of savings and what will secure them financially. Businesses live with the uncertainty of who will buy their products, cost of doing business, and policies that clamp down on their resources whether material or financial making it harder to stay afloat. Governments struggle with the uncertainty of revenue and spending requirements, burden of financial loans and leakages, corruption, and the aftermath of ineffectual policies. When there is elevated uncertainty over extended periods of time, it increases the scale of vulnerabilities of the economy. The need of the hour really is to have a clear and precise vision and policies that support and help the nation navigate troubled waters. We really need to question the inconsistent decisions that government takes and repeals time and again whether it is the appointment or dismissal of key positions like governors and ministers; the campaign to retain the youth workforce in the nation by engaging them in agriculture, creating more jobs and fostering the startup culture while all of reality points at the fact that all we are doing is pushing our human capital to foreign shores for remittance; taking blanket decisions on import bans without interlinking the ripple effects on other aspects of the economy; complacency in economic diplomacy; rising income inequality and inflation, escalating imbalance in BoP, toxic political environment and so forth. The degree to which we manage economic uncertainties and limitations will determine how we thrive or fail in the coming days, but more importantly now is the time for the government to assess, accept and take responsibility for political and economic restructuring in the larger interest of the nation. Policy clarity and political will are the only mechanisms that can provide any level of confidence to the market. READ ALSO: 

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