Nepal Floods 2017: August Floods Hit Rebounding Nepali Economy, Says World Bank

September 18, 2017

Recent floods in mid-August 2017 have severely impacted Nepal’s economic activity, said the World Bank in its recent-released report.

“Nepal’s economic activity, which was expected to progress well in FY 2018, has been impacted by another natural disaster,” highlighted the World Bank report titled- Nepal Development Update.

Citing to its semi-annual assessment of economic performance, the World Bank informed that the recent floods in mid-August 2017 have hit 5 percent of the country’s overall population with several districts recording the heaviest rainfall in 60 years.

World Bank termed the recent floods as ‘the third major shock in three consecutive years’ as it informed that the floods and landslides have affected over 1.7 million people, houses, bridges, roads and other infrastructure.

According to the report, the damage caused by floods is likely to affect agriculture, economic activity and poverty reduction efforts of Nepal, even up to FY 2018.

“Over 80 percent of land in the southern Tarai, country’s food basket, was affected. Estimates of destroyed crops at 64,000 hectares will likely lead to a weak agricultural output in FY 2018,” the report noted.

While the estimates of damages remain preliminary, the growth for FY 2018 is expected to be lower than earlier forecasted and moderate thereafter, in line with the potential averaging 4.5 percent in the forecast period, it added.

World Bank releases the Nepal Development Update twice in a year, bringing out issues to be addressed for the overall development of Nepal.