COVID-19: Nepal’s agriculture sector faces Rs 12 billion loss so far

KATHMANDU: Country’s agriculture and livestock sector has faced loss worth more than Rs 12 billion due to the COVID-19 spread so far, as per a study conducted by National Planning Commission (NPC).

Earlier, NPC had formed a committee to assess the impact of the COVID-19 on the economy. Though it was assumed that the pandemic had lesser impact on agriculture, initial assessment showed that the impact was higher, informed NPC officials.

Agriculture contributes 27 percent in Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Similarly, NPC officials also assumed that the severe impact on agriculture sector by the pandemic will affect overall economic growth of the country.

Recently, the World Bank had projected Nepal’s economic growth to shrink to 0.2 percent in 2020 and to 0.6 percent in 2021.