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Poverty level down 6pc
- NDC meet kicks off
KATHMANDU, MAY 23 -
Nepal has achieved poverty reduction by 6 percent during the ongoing Interim Plan 2007-10. According to a mid-term review of the three-year plan, the poverty level has dropped from 31 percent to 25.4 percent.
The government has sought to bring down the population under the poverty line to 24 percent by mid-July this year.
Finance Minister Surendra Pandey admitted on Sunday that urban areas had witnessed a speedy reduction in poverty against rural areas. The approach paper for the upcoming Interim Plan aims to reduce poverty to 21 percent.
Speaking at the inauguration of the National Development Council meeting that began on Sunday, Pandey also admitted that the gap between the haves and have nots was widening.
"This is a big challenge for socio-economic balance and stability of the country." Stating that the country's economic growth remained at 4.4 percent against the target of 5.5 percent for the Interim Plan, Pandey expressed confidence that achieving 6-7 percent growth in a normal situation would not be a difficult task.
Inaugurating the meeting, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal stressed
the need to concentrate investment in major infrastructure projects such as the Mid-Hill Highway, the Kathmandu-Tarai fast track and big hydropower projects.
"Expansion of the road network, easy access to communication and energy development should be considered as the key components for speedy economic growth," he added. He also stressed the need for a reassessment at the level of policy makers and implementing agencies
for the failure to achieve the expected results despite significant investments in the name of the poor.
He mentioned six areas including commercialization of the agriculture sector, promotion of tourism, hydropower development, industrialisation, human resource development and development of physical infrastructure as requiring priority in the next Interim Plan.
Posted on: 2010-05-24 07:44
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