The government has pledged to achieve an average economic growth rate of 7 percent over the next five years, with targets to raise per capita income to $3,000 and expand the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to $100 billion.
Releasing a draft of its ‘National Commitment’ document, the government outlined an ambitious roadmap for economic transformation. The plan consolidates pledges made by six major political parties ahead of the March 5 elections and is expected to guide upcoming budgets, policies, and reform agendas.
The document highlights the need to harness Nepal’s demographic dividend to transition the country into a middle-income economy. It envisions the government primarily as a regulator and facilitator, while positioning the private sector as the main driver of job creation, service delivery, revenue generation, and investment.
Among the key five-year targets are reducing multidimensional poverty to 10 percent, creating 1.5 million jobs, expanding irrigation to 300,000 hectares of land, and increasing the health sector’s share to 8 percent of the national budget.
The plan also includes ambitious goals such as developing Nepal into an exporter of artificial intelligence services and doubling per capita spending by foreign tourists within the given timeframe.
In infrastructure and energy, the government aims to increase electricity production capacity to 30,000 MW within a decade and upgrade the Mahendra Highway to international standards within three years. To mobilize external resources, it plans to issue diaspora bonds worth Rs 100 billion annually.
Promoting a digital economy is identified as a priority to enhance growth, productivity, and employment. The government has pledged to ensure policy stability, particularly in tax rates, to encourage private sector investment. It also plans to introduce a fully digitized and paperless system for business processes, from registration to renewal.
The vision includes ensuring equitable income distribution through social security, liberal economic policies, improved access to basic services, and support for startups and innovation. Measures such as progressive taxation, fair distribution of resources, balanced regional development, and entrepreneurship promotion are expected to reduce inequality.
The document also commits to addressing structural market issues by eliminating policy corruption, cartels, unfair competition, and artificial shortages.
Aligned with the recently announced 100-point reform agenda, the ‘National Commitment’ reflects a unified framework combining the election manifestos of six political parties, signaling a move toward collective ownership of national reforms.
The government has invited feedback from political parties within 10 days, with the draft available on the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers’ online portal.
