After months of high-pitched political campaigning, Nepal is expected to return to normal after March 5, with the formation of the new government. Whether it is a single-party majority or a coalition, the incoming government will inherit an economy that looks stable on paper but uneasy in reality. Growth is weak and the industry is limping. For many young people, the most viable career plan remains a departure gate of the Tribhuvan International Airport. While banks are flush with liquidity, businesses are not investing because confidence is missing.
That gap between liquidity and investment is no mystery, it is a verdict on governance. Entrepreneurs do not avoid risk because they lack ambition; they avoid it because the policies change without warning. When approvals crawl, contracts are difficult to enforce, and commercial disputes can turn criminal overnight, the private sector shifts from a mindset of expansion to one of mere survival. When businesses stop growing, jobs do not appear, and migration remains the default choice for the workforce.
The private sector, led by organizations like the FNCCI and CNI, is not merely asking for incentives. It is demanding predictable rules: time bound approvals, functional single-window services, stable tax interpretation, and fewer overlapping mandates. Most importantly, it is seeking an end to the practice of treating commercial disputes as criminal cases. Business leaders are not asking for immunity; they are asking for due process.
Political parties largely agree on the destination. Their election manifestos are filled with promises on production, exports, technology, infrastructure, and jobs. The missing piece is the road. That road is built on legal certainty, land and lease reform, cleaner procurement, and regulators who work without political pressure. While coalition politics often favors “showy” projects and quick spending over structural reforms, a singular truth is now accepted across all parties: the old model of import-led consumption, powered by remittances, has hit its limit.
The new government must start with what people can feel and investors can trust. This begins by fixing “high-contact” services such as land registration, licenses, renewals, and payments. Digitization should be used to reduce queues and middlemen, rather than creating new portals that keep the same old bottlenecks. Furthermore, appointments to regulatory bodies must be transparent and merit-based, while overdue economic laws—especially those modernizing corporate rules and clarifying energy investment—must be fast-tracked.
Nepal cannot afford another lackluster government or a parliament that drags its feet on essential economic and business laws. The new government and the bureaucracy must realize that true stability is not just about staying in power; it is about creating an environment where the nation’s talent and capital choose to stay.
Madan Lamsal
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