2 Min Read
KATHMANDU, March 5 (Reuters) - Nepal’s economy contracted for the first time in four decades in the last fiscal year due to a months-long lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said on Friday.
Nepal, wedged between China and India, ordered a strict lockdown in March last year, completely shutting down virtually all economic activity for nearly four months to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Ishwari Prasad Bhandari, a senior official of the government’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said Nepal’s GDP shrank by 1.99% in the year ending July 15. It grew by 6.75% in the previous year.