Kathmandu. Economist Nar Bahadur Thapa has said that the political parties should keep the country’s economy at the center while preparing their manifestos.

Presenting a working paper on ‘Economic Agenda in the Party’s Manifesto’ organized by the Association of Economic Journalists of Nepal (EJJ) here today, Thapa said that the manifesto should be prepared keeping in mind the reality and appropriate to the future era.

What are the issues of the second generation of economic reforms that should be included in the manifesto and the economy? He said that these things should be clarified.

“The issue of economic governance has been given priority in this election. The revolution in technology, changes in the global economy, and climate change have also had an impact. The party will have to include all these things in its manifesto,” Thapa said.

He also said that the parties are compelled to accommodate the people’s aspirations amidst the challenges. Thapa said that all the political parties should have the courage to bring in foreign investment in the agriculture sector. He said that the private sector would develop if agriculture products could be exported to the world market. He also said that the laws and regulations should be private sector-friendly.

According to him, there is no room to be satisfied even though the points included by the parties in the manifesto have been fulfilled.

“They have included social security allowances, hydropower sector, health and education in the party manifesto. Some of their goals have been achieved. But there is not much room to be dissatisfied,” he said, adding, “The promises made in the manifesto are not based on reality, being able to stay in power for a short period of time and so forth.” ’

Stating that the size of Nepal’s economy is small, he said it should be expanded. Stating that the economy would be positive without job creation, he said that all should emphasize on this. He expressed concern over the decline in capital formation ratio to GDP. “The capital-to-GDP ratio is declining. The private sector contributes only 62 percent to the GDP. At one time it was up to 80 percent. But now it is declining. Why is the private sector not investing in this country? The parties should make this clear,” Thapa said.

He also said that the issues of the financial sector should be included in the party manifesto. He said that the financial sector is currently in a difficult situation and if this is not thought about in time, there will be a big problem in the economy.

Stating that the country cannot bear the 25 per cent trade deficit for long, he said the plan to integrate the world economy with the Nepali economy should not be left out.