Seminar on Debt Sustainability in Nepal: Risk Assessment and Implications

A seminar on “Public Debt and Fiscal Sustainability in Nepal” was successfully organized on 2082 Poush 25 in Nepal Administrative Staff College, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, with the first technical session on “Debt sustainability in Nepal: Risk assessment and implication.” The seminar was organized by KYE Group-III as part of the Know Your Economy Module of ACMD-IV with the objective of promoting informed discussion on Nepal’s debt risk assessment and sustainability and its implication of fiscal sustainability.

The program brought together senior officials from NASC, a guest expert, and twenty-five participants from ACMD-IV. Discussions centered on the key indicators of debt sustainability and its risk, and implication.s

The Chief Guest of the program was the Executive Director of NASC Mr. Ram Sharan Pudasaini. Other guests included Dr. Raghu Bista, Mr. Yagya Prasad Dhungel, and Course Coordinator Mr. Gobinda Bhandari. Dr. Babu Ram Sharan Kharel, Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank was invited as the guest expert. The group consisted of Ms. Shailaja Adhikari, Mr. Bechan Chaudhary, Dr. Rabin Khadka, Mr. Baikuntha Sapkota, Mr. Sher Bahadur Pun and Mr. Ramesh Kumar Thapa. The session was chaired by Mr. Baikuntha Sapkota and Ms. Shailaja Adhikari, Mr. Bechan Chaudhary, and Mr.Sher Bahadur Pun presented the seminar paper.

In the thematic session on debt sustainability, Mr. Sher Bahadur Pun highlighted the global and national debt scenario and the governing factor that leads to the debt in Nepal. Ms. Shailaja Adhikari highlighted on the key debt sustainability indicator while Mr. Bechan Chaudhary presented the conclusion and implications.

During the interactive question-and-answer session, participants raised key issues related to debt sustainability and key sustainable indicators: Debt-to-GDP ratio, Debt service-to-revenue ratio, External debt-to-export ratio, Debt-service-to-export ratio. Feedback highlighted. The invited experts and participants shared reflections on the presentation and debt sustainability indicator discussions, and pointed Nepal's debt carrying capacity is strong.

The seminar concluded with Mr. Ram Sharan Pudasaini summarizing the session and appreciating the efforts made by the participants while clearing some misunderstandings regarding debt sustainability

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