KATHMANDU: Nepal’s economic growth rate went down in the fiscal year 2019/20.

According to an analysis made by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the annual economic growth rate was minus 1.99 percent in the last fiscal year.

The per capita income was USD 1,134 in that year. The government had projected 2.27 percent economic growth in the budget for the current fiscal year.

Similarly, the economic growth rate had dropped to zero percent in the fiscal year 2015/16. The growth rate in the first quarter of the current fiscal year has also been negative.

In the last quarter of the previous fiscal year, the economic growth rate had gone down  by 15 percent, apparently due to COVID-19.

The growth rate is gradually improving in the subsequent years, according to the CBS. The worst affected areas include housing and transportation.

Wholesale and retail trade shrunk by 10.7 percent, industrial production by 9.1 percent, construction by 5.6 percent and mining and quarrying by 2.2 percent.

The electricity and gas sectors have shown a positive growth of 25.6 percent. Public administration grew by 6.2 percent and human health by 5.2 percent, according to the CBS.